(LIBRARY    ) 
UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SAN  Df€GO 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

OF 

ENGLISH    LITERATURE 
VOLUME  I. 


Her  Majesty,  Qiiwn  Victoria. 


THE 

VICTORIAN   AGE 

OF 

ENGLISH    LITERATURE 


BY 

MRS.    OLIPHANT 

AUTHOR  OF 

LITERARY  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,"  "ROYAL  EDINBURGH/ 
"THE  MAKERS  OF  FLORENCE,"  ETC. 


VOLUME  I. 


'NEW  YORK 
LOVELL,   CORYELL    &    COMPANY 

3IO-3I8    SIXTH   AVENUE 


COPYRIGHT,  1892, 

BY 
UNITED  STATES  BOOK  COMPANY, 


[All  rights  reserved.} 


1    <\ 


PREFACE. 

IT  is  always  somewhat  rash  to  attempt  to  determine  the 
final  place  in  literature  of  contemporary  writers.  There  is 
nothing  in  which  the  generations  make  greater  mistakes. 
Looking  back  upon  the  past  age  the  reader  smiles  if  he  some- 
times shudders  to  see  Davenant  or  Congreve  placed  above 
Shakespeare,  the  age  of  Anne  regarding  as  barbarous  the 
age  of  Elizabeth,  and  in  nearer  days  Southey  placed  on  an 
equal  rank  with  Byron  or  with  Wordsworth.  Posterity,  we 
cannot  doubt,  will  displace  some  of  our  greater  and  lesser 
lights  in  the  same  way ;  but  we  must  accept  the  disabilities 
of  contemporary  judgment  along  with  its  advantages,  and 
with  the  certainty  that  what  is  written  here  is  for  the  reader 
of  to-day,  and  not  for  that  eventual  judge  whose  verdict  will 
ultimately  prevail,  let  us  say  what  we  will. 

In  a  record  of  so  large  and  widely  spreading  a  literature 
as  our  own  it  is  inevitable  that  some  names  must  be  left 
out  or  too  lightly  mentioned.  The  present  writers  have 
endeavoured  as  far  as  possible  to  include  all ;  but  for  any 
unintentional  shortcomings  in  this  respect  must  throw 
themselves  upon  the  charity  of  the  gentle  and  courteous 
reader. 


vi  PREFACE. 

Since  these  lines  were  written,  we,  and  we  may  say  all  the 
English-speaking  portions  of  the  world,  have  sustained  a  loss 
greater  than  has  been  felt  since  Scott  fell,  like  a  great  tower, 
changing  the  very  perspective  and  proportions  of  the  na- 
tional landscape.  Lord  Tennyson  has  departed  from  among 
us  full  of  years  and  honours  ;  so  long  ours  that  we  dared 
not  wish  to  detain  him,  yet  so  much  a  part  of  all  the  noblest 
thoughts  and  hopes  which  he  has  inspired,  in  patriotism,  in 
religion,  in  song,  that  it  seemed  almost  impossible  he  should 
die.  He  has  gone  in  a  noble  tranquillity  and  faith  which  is 
one  of  the  greatest  lessons  he  has  ever  given  to  the  country 
he  so  much  loved  :  and  his  death  puts  back  this  record 
almost  as  by  the  end  of  the  epoch  which  it  treats. 

Others  names  less  important  have  also  vanished  from  the 
lists  of  living  men  between  the  writing  and  the  printing  of 
these  annals.  The  reader  will  understand  that  this  makes 
no  difference  to  the  estimate  and  criticism  undertaken  here. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Ot  the  State  of  Literature  at  the  Queen's  Accession,  and  cf  those  whose  work  was  already 

done 7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Of  the  Men  who  had  already  made  their  name,  and  especially  of  John  Gibson  Lockhart, 

and  of  Periodical  Literature;  of  Walter  Savage  Landor,  and  of  Leigh  Hunt        40 

CHAPTER  III. 

Of  Thomas  Carlyle,  John  Stuart  Mill,  and  other  Essayists  and  Critics  .        .  101 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Of  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay,  and  of  other  Historians  and  Biographers  in  the  early 

part  of  the  reign 157 

CHAPTER  V. 

Of  the  Greater  Victorian  Poets 203 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Of  Charles  Dickens  and  William  Makepeace  Thackeray,  and  of  the  older  Novelists    .      247 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  Ecclesiastical  Writers  and  Theological  Literature 313 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Of  Scientific  Writers 357 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX  PAGE. 

Of  some  Philosophical  Writers 393 

CHAPTER  X. 
Of  the  Younger  Poets 430 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Of  the  Younger  Novelists 460 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Of  Writers  on  Art 507 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Of  the  Later  Historians,  Biographers,  Essayists,  etc.,  and  of  the  Present  Condition  of 

Literature 537 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Of  the  leading  Periodicals  and  Newspapers  of  the  Victorian  era 588 


List  of  Illustrations. 

PAGE 

Her  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria                  -  Frontispiece 

Lord  Brougham     -  28 

John  Gibson  Lockhart    -  68 

Thomas  Carlyle     -  101 

John  Stuart  Mill  -        -  140 

Harriet  Martineau  182 

Lord  Tennyson      -  216 

Charlotte  Bronte  ("  Currer  Bell")  -        -  -        305 


Vol.  I. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF    ENGLISH 
LITERATURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  STATE    OF  LITERATURE  AT   THE    QUEEN'S   ACCESSION, 
AND  OF  THOSE  WHOSE  WORK  WAS  ALREADY  DONE. 

THE  period  which  witnessed  Her  Majesty's  happy 
accession  was  not  in  itself  a  very  glorious  one,  at 
least  as  far  as  literature  is  concerned.  It  was  a  sea- 
son of  lull,  of  silence  and  emptiness,  such  as  must 
naturally  come  after  the  exhausting  brilliance  of  the 
days  which  had  just  gone  by.  It  was  a  period  of 
transition  too,  in  which  many  great  names  were  falling 
into  silence,  and  the  men  who  were  destined  to  take 
their  places  were  but  slowly  pushing  to  the  front,  and 
beginning  to  make  reputations  for  themselves.  But 
these  new-comers  seemed  as  yet  poor  compared  with 
those  whom  almost  everyone  living  had  known  ; 
their  methods  were  not  the  same — were  even  some- 
times offensively  opposed  to  them ;  and  the  world 
had  hardly  made  up  its  mind  whether  it  was  worth 
while  to  admire  or  even  to  look  closely  at  the  rising 
generation.  Even  now,  with  the  works  of  Carlyle 


State  of  liter- 
ature  at  the 
Queen's  Ac- 
cession. 


A  transition 
period. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  Illus- 
trious years 
of  the 
Regency. 


Words- 
worth. 


and  Tennyson,  and  many  other  lights  of  no  little 
brilliance  to  look  back  upon,  we  would  hardly  com- 
pare the  prosperous  and  fruitful  Victorian  age  with 
those  few,  glorious  years  of  the  Regency  to  which 
Wordsworth,  Coleridge  and  Sir  Walter,  Byron,  Shelley 
and  Keats  lent  their  united  lustre.  It  was  a  bad 

nough  age,  in  many  ways — though  England  never 
in  all  her  days  held  so  proud  a  position — but  the 

lory  could  not  depart  from  the  eyes  of  the  men  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  receive  fresh  from  the  press 
the  last  poem  of  Byron,  the  last  sonnet  of  Words- 
worth, the  last  fairy  trifle  of  Shelley  or  Keats,  or — 
most  generally  acceptable  treasure  of  all — the  last 
Waverley  novel.  It  was,  perhaps,  almost  too  much 
in  some  ways ;  it  seems  impossible  to  believe  that  one 
year  could  contain  much  more  than  "  Childe  Harold  " 
and  the  "  Heart  of  Midlothian  ; "  and  it  is  little  wonder 
if  the  world,  bewildered  by  the  dazzling  blaze  of 
genius,  threw  up  its  cap  and  shouted  as  loud  for 
Moore  and  Campbell,  Southey  and  Rogers,  as  for  any 
of  the  greater  names. 

Almost  all  of  these  were  gone,  however,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Victorian  period,  some  in  the  vigour 
of  youth  and  some  when  approaching  age.  Only 
Wordsworth  remained,  who  lived  on  for  many  years 
in  the  fulness  of  days  and  of  honour,  to  receive  in  a 
few  years  the  only  formal  tribute  that  the  sovereign 
can  pay  to  poetry.  But  even  he  had  practically 
ceased  writing  ;  and  society  in  general  was  much  in 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


the  condition  of  a  crowd  at  the  close  of  some  great 
spectacle,  when  they  pay  their  pennies  and  go  home, 
some  of  them  thanking  heaven  that  it  is  over,  and 
some  wondering  whether  they  will  ever  see  anything 
so  fine  again  ;  but  few  indeed  ready  to  turn  their 
wearied  eyes  to  a  fresh  exhibition. 

The  past  age,  however,  was  still  present  in  its  minor 
lights,  although  most  of  them  had  already  well-nigh 
exhausted  their  powers  of  production  ;  and,  though 
many  of  the  greater  writers  had  died  early,  the  world 
was  still  full  of  those  who  had  known  them  and 
watched  their  progress.  Indeed,  it  is  most  extraor- 
dinary to  observe  the  gulf  between  their  age  and  ours, 
when  we  consider  how  little  the  dates  of  birth  had  to 
do  with  it.  Even  the  youngest  among  us  have 
known  of  Carlyle,  at  least,  as  a  living  personality, 
while  very  few  among  the  oldest  could  possibly  have 
any  acquaintance  with  Keats  except  by  his  works. 
Yet  Keats  was  only  two  months  older  than  Carlyle. 
Sir  Walter  Scott  had  not  been  dead  quite  five  years 
at  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  Coleridge  hardly  three  ; 
and  Coleridge's  children  were  all  living,  though  but 
feebly  shadowing  forth  their  father's  greatness,  not-? 
withstanding  the  true  poetical  gift  of  Hartley  Cole- 
ridge, and  something  worthy  of  note  in  his  sister  Sara, 
whose  "  Phantasmion "  was  published  in  the  year 
1837,  with  which  our  record  begins.  Of  the  lesser 
names,  Southey  was  living,  in  the  peaceful  and 
honourable  tranquillity  that  his  gentle  and  lovable 


The  past  age 
and  the  pres- 
ent. 


"  Phantas- 
mion." 


10 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Southey, 
Poet-Lau- 
reate. 


Words- 
worth, Poet- 
Laureate. 


Bon  Gaultier 
BaUads— 
Struggle  for 
the  Lau- 

reateship. 


spirit  merited.  He  had  received  his  appointment  as 
Poet  Laureate  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  before, 
and  was  placidly  engaged  in  editing  Cowper,  a  con- 
genial task.  But  the  remnant  of  life  before  him  was 
melancholy  enough.  In  1837  his  first  wife  died,  one 
of  those  celebrated  three  Miss  Frickers,  whose 
alliance  was  so  oddly  suggested  as  a  step  to  the 
establishment  of  the  great  system  of  Pantisocracy, 
and  whose  names  are  forever  associated  with  the 
brilliant  band  of  young  poets  ;  and  he  had  married 
for  the  second  time  Caroline  Bowles,  herself  a  minor 
poet  of  some  reputation,  who  was  his  untiring  nurse 
through  some  painful  years.  He  died  in  1843,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  post  of  Laureate  by  Words- 
worth who,  though  he  hardly  produced  anything  in 
this  reign,  beyond  some  "Memorials  of  a  Tour  in 
Italy,"  published  in  1837, — for  " The  Prelude "  pub- 
lished after  his  death  was,  though  so  long  withheld 
from  the  public,  an  early  composition — lived  on  to 
the  year  1850.  As  late  as  the  death  of  Southey  there 
were  several  of  the  old  society  of  wits  and  poets  still 
remaining.  Everyone  remembers  the  delightful  ac- 
count of  the  struggle  for  the  Laureateship  on  that 
occasion,  as  described  in  the  Bon  Gaultier  Ballads, 
' '  after  the  manner  of  the  Right  Honourable  T — B — 
M — ; "  and  how  "young  Alfred  "  made  the  very  sen- 
sible suggestion  that  the  poets  should  fight  for  the 
place.  Among  the  many  objectors  to  the  project 
come  various  long  familiar  names. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


II 


"_Mine  are  the  lists  of  love,"  said  Moore,  "  and  not  the  lists  of 

Mars ;  " 

Said  Hunt,  "I  love  the  jars  of  wine  but  shun  the  combat's  jars." 
"  I'm  old,"  said  Samuel  Rogers  ;  "  faith,"  said  Campbell,  "  so  am 

I;" 

"  And  I'm  in  holy  orders,  sir,"  quoth  Tom  of  Ingoldsby. 

Of  Leigh  Hunt  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  in 
a  future  chapter.  Thomas  Moore,  who  was  approach- 
ing sixty,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Queen's  reign, 
produced  nothing  after  that  date  but  a  tale  of  no 
great  merit  called  "Alciphron,"  and  a  history  of 
Ireland,  which  has  probably  never  been  read  since  it 
was  published.  His  mind  also  failed  a  year  or  two 
before  his  bodily  strength  gave  way ;  he  died  in  1852  at 
the  age  of  seventy- three.  Samuel  Rogers,  that  strange 
mixture  of  banker  and  poet,  whose  breakfasts  were  so 
much  more  famous  and  memorable  than  his  poetry, 
was  seventy-four,  and  had  retired  from  the  actual 
arena  of  letters  to  take  the  place  as  a  patron  and 
host  of  poets,  which  suited  him  better.  In  this 
comfortable  retirement  he  lived  to  a  great  age,  dying 
in  his  ninety-fourth  year,  in  1855.  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, a  man  of  genius,  entirely  ignorant  of  his  own 
powers,  who  wrote  poetry  when  the  spirit  moved 
him  and  verses  when  it  did  not,  was  just  sixty,  and 
was  yet  to  produce  some  poems  quite  unworthy  of 
his  fame,  though  a  ballad  or  two  like  that  of 
"Napoleon  and  the  British  Seaman"  still  proved 
that  the  fire  of  true  poetry  was  not  entirely  extin- 
guished in  him.  Campbell  died  in  1844.  Barham, 


Thomas 
Moore. 


Samuel 
Rogers. 


Thomas 
Campbell. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Joanna 
Baillie. 


Lady 
Nairne. 


James 
Montgom- 
ery. 


Jane  Austen. 


Maria  Edge- 
worth. 


.Susan  Fer- 
rier. 


the  last  named  in  the  verse  quoted,  belongs  to  a- 
different  group,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  elsewhere. 
Among  other  poets  still  living,  who  had  retired  into 
silence,  almost  or  entirely  complete,  we  may  men- 
tion Joanna  Baillie,  the  authoress  of  those  "  Plays  on 
the  Passions  "  which  had  so  unaccountable  a  success 
in  their  day,  who  was  seventy-five  at  the  Queen's 
accession,  but  lived  for  fourteen  years  longer  in 
her  peaceful  retirement  at  Hampstead  ;  and  Lady 
Nairne,  the  author  of  the  "  Laird  o'  Cockpen  "  and  of 
the  still  more  popular  "  Land  o'  the  Leal."  James 
Montgomery,  a  mild  and  gentle  poet,  the  author  of 
many  verses  dear  to  pious  souls,  and  his  name- 
sake ' '  Satan  "  Montgomery,  as  he  was  called,  whose 
bombastic  and  pompous  "Epic"  procured  him  a 
kind  of  popularity,  and  the  final  distinction  of  being 
extinguished  by  an  amusing  article  of  Macaulay's  in 
the  Edinburgh  Review — still  lived  to  contribute  to 
Victorian  literature,  the  first  a  little  noticed  collection 
of  Hymns,  the  second  several  volumes  of  turgid 
verse. 

There  had  been  many  women  of  note  among  the 
writers  of  the  departing  age,  especially  in  the  depart- 
ment of  fiction.  Of  the  three  sister  authors,  Jane 
Austen,  Maria  Edgeworth  and  Susan  Ferrier,  who 
had  brought  into  so  clear  a  light  the  real  ways  of 
life  of  the  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  of  their 
time,  only  the  latter  two  remained.  Miss  Ferrier, 
whose  great  reputation  rests  upon  three  novels  only, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


published  the  last  and  least  successful  of  these  in 
1831,  and  wrote  no  more,  though  she  lived  until  1864  ; 
while  Miss  Edgeworth,  who  had  also  apparently 
retired  from  the  literary  world,  made  only  one  re- 
appearance, when  over  eighty,  with  the  story  of 
"  Orlan din o,"  which  it  would  be  unfair  to  compare 
with  her  earlier  works.  Another  Irish  novelist,  Lady 
Morgan,  who  had  created  a  great  sensation  thirty 
years  before  with  her  "Wild  Irish  Girl,"  had  also 
laid  aside  her  pen,  though  she  re-appeared  a  year  or 
two  later  with  a  work  of  a  very  different  kind,  en- 
titled, "Woman  and  Her  Master."  At  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  this  lady,  grown  old  and  resting  upon 
her  modest  laurels,  aspired  to  the  position  of  a 
leader  and  patroness  of  the  literary  world,  entertain- 
ing at  her  evening  receptions  the  authors  who  had 
breakfasted  with  Samuel  Rogers  in  the  morning. 
Another  salon  of  a  different  and  perhaps  more 
attractive  kind,  was  presided  over  by  Lady  Blessing- 
ton,  also  an  Irish  lady,  possessed  of  a  good  deal  of 
talent,  who  worked  hard  as  a  journey-woman  in  the 
profession  of  letters,  writing  novels,  editing  albums 
and  annuals,  a  fashion  of  the  day,  and  turning  her 
hand  to  any  work  that  offered.  Miss  Porter,  the 
muse  of  the  "Scottish  Chiefs,"  and  Mrs.  Opie,  the 
authoress  of  a  series  of  novels  with  a  high  moral 
purpose,  still  live^  ;  but  neither  of  them  continued  to 
write  after  the  commencement  of  the  reign.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Mrs.  Hofland,  a  writer  of  moral 


Lady 
Morgan, 


Lady 
Blessington. 


Miss  Porter 
Mrs.  Opie. 

L 


Mrs. 
Hofland. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


Lctitia 
Klizabeth 
n  Inii  : 
I..  E.  L. 


Robert 
Plumer 
W.ird. 


Tribute  to 
his  great- 
ness. 


stories  of  a  simpler  kind  for  girls,  and  like  Mrs.  Opie, 
the  wife  of  a  well-known  painter.  Another  authoress 
of  the  day,  Letitia  Elizabeth  Landon,  better  known 
by  her  initials  as  L.  E.  L.  ,  will  be  remembered 
rather  by  many  little  graceful  trifles  of  verse  than 
either  by  her  novels  or  her  more  serious  poetical 
efforts.  Miss  Landon  belongs  to  a  younger  genera- 
tion than  any  of  those  we  have  quoted,  but  the 
swift  and  melancholy  end  of  her  life  obliges  us  to 
notice  her  here.  The  year  after  the  Queen's  acces- 
sion, she  married  a  Mr.  Maclean,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed governor  of  Cape  Coast  Castle,  and,  following 
her  husband  to  his  post,  died  in  Africa,  a  short  time 
after  her  marriage.  She  had  published  in  1837  a  small 
essay  in  autobiography,  entitled,  "Traits  and  Trials 
of  Early  Life. " 

The  old  traditions  of  what  might  be  called  the 
correct  school  of  fiction  were  most  suitably  repre- 
sented by  one,  who,  though  over  seventy  years  of 
age  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  had  no  idea  of 
relinquishing  his  work,  the  then  much-belauded 
author  of  "Tremaine."  Robert  Plumer  Ward,  how- 
ever, only  started  as  a  novelist  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
and  his  first  two  novels,  "Tremaine"  and  "  De 
Vere,"  were  received  with  extraordinary  favour.  In 
the  first  year  of  our  period,  1837,  we  find  in  a  review 
of  his  "  Illustrations  of  Human  Life,"  the  following 
tribute  to  his  greatness  : — 

"There    is   no   one,"   we    are    told,    "who    has 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


brought  to  his  pleasing  occupation  (videKfy  the 
writing  of  novels,)  a  mind  more  enriched  with  the 
best  knowledge  drawn  from  the  study  of  books,  an 
experience  of  life  more  various  and  mature  ;  an 
observation  more  attentive,  or  a  taste  more  elegant 
and  exact  than  the  author  of  '  Tremaine.'" 

It  is  a  criticism  to  live  up  to  ;  yet  we  fear  that  there 
are  but  few  now  who  could  say  at  a  moment's  notice 
what  manner  of  book  "  Tremaine  "  might  be,  or  even 
who  was  its  author.  Two  other  novels,  "De  Clifford" 
and  "  Chatsworth, "  together  with  a  quasi-historical 
study  of  the  "Real  Character  of  the  Revolution  of 
1688"  complete  the  list  of  Ward's  contributions  to 
the  literature  of  the  present  reign.  Another  equally 
respectable  school  of  fiction,  that  of  the  historico- 
sensational  novel,  was  as  worthily  represented  by 
George  Payne  Rainsford  James.  We  have  all  been 
accustomed  to  laugh  at  the  time-honoured  scene  with 
which  his  stories  were  wont  to  open — where  the  last 
beams  of  the  setting  sun  gilded  the  valley  along 
which  rode  two  horsemen,  one  of  whom  appeared  to  be 
some  six  or  seven  summers  older  than  the  other ;  but 
we  have  had  time  since  then  to  become  accustomed 
to  even  more  bombastic  and  inflated  styles,  with 
perhaps  even  less  literary  merit  to  redeem  them. 
We  certainly  cannot  see  that  the  historical  novel 
was  in  the  least  degree  improved  by  Ainsworth, 
though  his  tales  did  certainly  march  a  little  faster. 
Perhaps,  it  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that,  at  least 


The 

historico- 
sensationa! 
Novel. 


G  P.  R. 

James. 


Ainsworth. 


i6 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Thomas 
Love  Pea- 
cock. 


His  power 
of  epigram 
and  versifica- 
tion 


since  the  death  of  the  late  James  Grant,  we  have 
had  no  exact  representative  of  this  school  of  fiction 
among  us. 

A  very  different  class  of  adventurer  in  this  branch 
of  literature  was  represented  by  Thomas  Love  Pea- 
cock. We  use  the  word  adventurer  advisedly,  for 
we  cannot  regard  Peacock's  entry  into  the  field  of 
fiction  as  by  any  means  an  authorized  one.  One 
cannot  help  feeling  that  he  did  not  want  to  write 
novels,  but  that  he  found  that  he  could  not  get  at  the 
public  in  any  other  way  ;  overflowing  with  wit  and 
satire,  as  he  was,  and  with  so  much  to  say  on  social 
subjects,  the  only  legitimate  outlet  he  could  find 
was  in  the  conventional  form  accepted  by  the 
public.  The  consequence  is  that  his  novels  are  not 
novels  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  ;  they  are 
rather  a  concoction  of  whimsical  ideas,  flavoured 
with  bright  dialogue  and  spiced  with  almost  too 
great  a  profusion  of  epigram,  the  whole  being  served 
up  in  a  kind  of  novel  paste,  something  like  that  of  a 
game  pie,  which  is  hardly  intended  to  be  eaten  by 
itself,  its  legitimate  purpose  being  only  to  fence  in 
and  keep  together  the  dainties  within.  For  an  extra 
seasoning,  his  extraordinary  power  of  light,  easy 
versification,  specimens  of  which  are  scattered 
through  all  his  novels,  would  have  made  up  for  many 
shortcomings  in  other  matters.  Peacock's  principal 
works,  "  Headlong  Hall,"  "  Crotchet  Castle,"  and 
"Nightmare  Abbey,"  had  been  published  severa) 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


years  before  the  date  with  which  our  history  com- 
mences, but  his  last  novel  of  ' '  Gryll  Grange  "  ap- 
peared much  later,  in  1861,  when  the  writer  had 
reached  the  age  of  seventy-six.  There  is  much  in 
this  last  story,  which  is  in  his  best  style,  but  we 
seem  to  miss  the  ease  and  abandon  of  his  earlier 
attempts.  Here,  for  instance,  as  in  "  Crotchet  Cas- 
tle," we  have  an  admirable  study  of  the  jovial, 
learned,  cultivated  country  parson,  as  sound  in  his 
theological  opinions  as  in  his  judgment  of  different 
vintages,  and  as  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  he  is  pleasant  to  meet  at  the  dinner-table — 
a  species  happily  not  so  entirely  extinct  as  the 
modern  reformer  would  give  us  to  understand  ; — 
but  yet  it  is  hardly  the  same  man.  Dr.  Opimian  is 
like  Dr.  Folliott  crystallised,  and  the  whole  story,  of 
which  he  forms  almost  the  most  important  charac- 
ter, has  a  new  air  of  formality,  almost  of  stiffness,  to 
which  we  are  not  accustomed  from  this  author's 
hand.  The  dialogue  is  as  witty  as  ever,  but  it  is  too 
entirely  a  dialogue,  a  set  piece,  not  an  interlude  in  the 
general  composition.  To  return  to  our  old  similitude 
we  might  say  that  the  dish  which  Peacock  served  up 
at  this  late  hour  was  composed  of  as  good  ingre- 
dients as  the  former  ones,  but  it  had  been  standing 
too  long,  and  the  zest  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  gone 
out  of  it.  Yet  we  can  forgive  much  to  the  author  of 
such  a  disquisition  as  that  of  Dr.  Opimian  on  the  Wis- 
dom of  Parliament. 


"  Gryll 
Grange." 


Its  fun  and 
satire. 


iS 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Dr.  Opi- 

inian  on  the 
Wisdo.u  of 
Parlia- 
ment." 


Henry 
Hallarn 


"  Why,  sir,  I  do  not  call  that  a  misnomer.  The  term  Wisdom 
is  used  in  a  parliamentary  sense.  The  wisdom  of  Parliament  is 
a  wisdom  sui  generis.  It  is  not  like  any  other  wisdom.  It  is  not 
the  wisdom  of  Socrates,  nor  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.  It  is  the 
wisdom  of  Parliament.  It  is  not  easily  analysed  or  defined ;  but 
it  is  very  easily  understood.  It  has  achieved  wonderful  things 
by  itself,  and  still  more  when  Science  has  come  to  its  aid.  Be- 
tween them,  they  have  poisoned  the  Thames,  and  killed  the  fish 
in  the  river.  A  little  further  development  of  the  same  wisdom 
and  science  will  complete  the  poisoning  of  the  air,  and  kill  the 
dwellers  on  the  banks.  It  is  pleasant  that  the  precious  effluvium 
has  been  brought  so  efficiently  under  the  Wisdom's  own  wise 
nose.  Thereat  the  nose,  like  Trinculo's,  has  been  in  great  in- 
dignation. The  Wisdom  has  ordered  the  Science  to  do  some- 
thing. The  Wisdom  does  not  know  what,  nor  the  Science 
either.  But  the  Wisdom  has  empowered  the  Science  to  spend 
some  millions  of  money ;  and  this  no  doubt  the  Science  will  do. 
When  the  money  has  been  spent,  it  will  be  found  that  the  some- 
thing has  been  worse  than  nothing.  The  Science  will  want  more 
money  to  do  some  other  something,  and  the  Wisdom  will  grant 
it." 


It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  pleasanter  blend- 
ing of  fun  and  satire.  The  only  other  appearances 
made  by  Peacock  in  the  present  reign,  were  a  few 
scattered  pieces,  chiefly  in  Eraser's  Magazine  to 
which  he  contributed — together  with  other  things, — 
a  series  of  articles  upon  the  various  memoirs  of  his 
old  friend,  Shelley.  He  died  in  1866. 

Among  the  graver  writers  of  the  day  we  should 
mention,  in  the  first  place,  the  great  historian,  Henry 
Hallam.  He  also  had  been  for  some  years  silent, 
but  the  profound  research  and  study  required  by  the 
severe  muse  of  history,  authorise  and  justify  such 
long  periods  of  apparent  quiescence.  It  was  nearly 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


twenty  years  since  he  had  laid  before  the  world  his 
wonderful  picture  of  "Europe  during  the  Middle 
Ages,"  undoubtedly  the  most  entertaining  and  per- 
haps the  most  truly  literary  of  his  works.  Nine 
years  later  came  the  magnum  opus,  the  "Constitu- 
tional History  of  England,"  a  profound  study  of  a 
profound  subject,  which  has  naturally  little  in  the 
way  of  literary  graces  to  recommend  it  to  the  ordi- 
nary reader.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  to  read  it  at  all 
without  experiencing  the  naturally  repugnant  feeling 
that  one  is  receiving  instruction ;  it  is  entirely  im- 
possible to  play  with,  and  somewhat  serious  to  read, 
but  of  all  books  of  knowledge,  the  easiest  and  most 
fascinating  to  study.  From  these  grave  treatises, 
the  historian  turned  to  a  subject  as  profound  in  its 
way  but  capable  of  much  lighter  treatment.  In 
1837  appeared  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Introduction 
to  the  Literature  of  Europe  "  in  the  1 5th,  1 6th  and  i  yth 
centuries,  which  was  completed  in  1839.  To  enclose 
himself  yet  more  strictly  within  the  circle  of  literary 
art,  Hallam  excluded  from  his  subject  most  of  the 
severer  classes  of  books  in  which  the  aid  of  such  art 
is  little  needed.  Even  history,  "unless  when  it  has 
been  written  with  peculiar  beauty  of  language  or 
philosophical  spirit,"  he  considered  to  lie  outside  the 
sphere  of  his  researches.  The  result  was  not  satis- 
factory. The  history  of  literature  is  written  in  a 
style  far  less  attractive  than  that  of  the  Constitution ; 
nor  do  many  of  his  criticisms  inspire  either  respect 


"  Europe 
during  the 
Middle 
Ages." 


Constitu- 
tional His* 
tory  of 
England.  * 


"  Introduc- 
tion to  the 
Literature  of 
Europe." 


20 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  end  of 
his  life. 


John 
Lingard. 


for  his  judgment  or  sympathy  with  his  taste.  The 
world  has  justly  refused  to  place  the  history  of  litera- 
ture on  the  same  level  with  either  of  Hallam's  former 
works.  Yet  for  those  who  seek  the  better  part  of 
failures  as  well  as  triumphs,  there  is  something 
pleasing  in  the  very  love  of  his  books  which  is  con- 
stantly coming  before  us.  The  end  of  his  life  was 
sad  and  lonely,  and  the  books  of  which  he  wrote 
were  the  almost  only  companions  left  to  the  bereaved 
old  man.  It  would  seem  as  if  some  higher  and 
gentler  sense  of  the  beauty  of  his  subject  which  he 
found  difficult  to  interpret,  trained  as  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  subtle  questions 
and  conflicting  theories  of  history  would  seem  to  have 
stolen  into  his  mind ;  no  man  without  the  most 
genuine  appreciation  of  literature  could  have  dis- 
cribed  so  feelingly  how  "  the  remembrance  of  early 
reading  came  on  his  (Milton's)  dark  and  lonely  path 
like  the  moon  emerging  from  the  clouds."  Let  us 
hope  that  he  too  felt  its  consolation,  for  fortune  had 
laid  her  hand  on  him  as  heavily  as  upon  Milton. 

Among  other  living  historians  there  is  hardly  any 
name  of  greater  note  than  that  of  John  Lingard,  the 
only  voice  heard  up  to  that  time  from  the  Catholic 
side.  Dr.  Lingard's  principal  work  was  done  some 
years  before  the  Queen's  accession,  but  he  lived  on 
till  1851,  fulfilling  his  quiet  duties  as  parish  priest 
in  the  obscure  Lancashire  village  where  he  had 
always  had  leisure  to  pursue  his  historical  studies. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


and  from  which  even  the  offer  of  a  Cardinal's  hat 
had  failed  to  lure  him.  One  feels  almost  doubtful 
whether  to  class  among  the  serious  writers,  that 
genuine  curiosity  of  literature,  Isaac  Disraeli.  There 
have  been  other  such  men  with  perhaps  as  wide 
reading  and  as  great  a  turn  for  picking  up  the  stray 
odds  and  ends  of  literature,  which  acquire  a  factitious 
value  from  the  mere  fact  that  the  world  has  design- 
edly and  justly  passed  them  over  as  little  worthy  of 
preservation ;  but  perhaps  no  one  has  had  the 
courage  to  cast  the  undigested  fragments  of  an 
extensive  and  peculiar  acquaintance  with  all  kinds 
of  literature  upon  the  world  as  Disraeli  did.  The 
"Curiosities  of  Literature  "  is  a  book  which  is  delight- 
ful to  pick  up  for  a  moment  or  two,  but  distressing 
to  read  persistently.  It  is  mournful  to  see  such 
immense  knowledge  put  to  so  little  use.  Probably 
Disraeli  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  have  made  any 
more  practical  use  of  his  learning.  There  seems  to 
be  a  strange  twist  in  his  intellect  which  has,  oddly 
enough,  some  resemblance  to  the  curious  sleight  of 
mind  which  marked  the  much  more  practical  career 
of  his  extraordinarily  clever  son,  the  late  Lord 
Beaconsfield.  The  only  contribution  of  Isaac  Dis- 
raeli to  the  literature  of  the  present  reign  was  his 
volume  on  the  "Amenities  of  Literature, "  published 
in  1841. 

Of  a  very  different  character  was  another  of  the 
graver  writers  of  the  day,  whom  we  feel  bound  to 


Isaac 
Disraeli. 


"  Curiosities 
of  Litera- 
ture." 


22 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


John  Foster. 


Hit  Essays. 


The  move- 
ment for  dif- 
fusion and 
populariza- 
tion of  Lite- 
rature. 


Lord 
Brougham. 


notice  here,  though,  as  a  point  of  fact,  he  contributed 
hardly  anything  to  the  literature  of  the  reign  of 
Victoria.  John  Foster,  a  Baptist  minister,  was  a 
man  of  no  particular  erudition,  but  with  strong  views 
of  his  own  on  many  ordinary,  every-day  subjects, 
which  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  give  to  the  world.  He 
himself  confessed  his  "total  want  of  all  knowledge 
of  intellectual  philosophy  and  of  all  metaphysical 
reading,"  but  he  believed  that  his  own  "observation 
and  reflection  "  supplied  all  deficiencies.  His  essays, 
many  of  which  were  addressed  in  a  series  of  letters 
to  the  lady  whom  he  was  about  to  marry,  were 
highly  valued  in  their  time,  especially  those  on 
' '  Popular  Ignorance, "  on  ' '  Decision  of  Character, "  and 
on  the  reasons  why  people  in  the  upper  classes  found 
a  difficulty  in  appreciating  properly  the  evangelical 
movement.  In  later  life  Foster  contributed  much  to 
the  "Eclectic  Review,"  in  which  his  best  known 
essay,  that  upon  "Popular  Ignorance,"  appeared. 
He  died  in  1843. 

Another  department  of  literature  which  claims  our 
attention  at  this  period  includes  the  small  company 
of  men  who  were  devoting  their  energies  to  the 
diffusion  and  popularisation  of  literature  and  know- 
ledge of  all  kinds  among  the  classes  who  were  least 
able  to  educate  themselves.  The  chief  credit  of  this 
movement  may  fairly  be  ascribed  to  Lord  Brougham, 
whose  great  talents  and  lofty  position  enabled  him 
to  originate  and  carry  out  conceptions  from  which 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


others  would  have  shrunk  as  unattainable, — though, 
indeed,  much  the  same  work  was  achieved  by  the 
Chambers  brothers  in  Scotland  by  dint  of  sheer 
incessant  labour.  Henry  Peter  Brougham,  the  son 
of  a  Cumberland  gentleman  of  small  property,  and 
through  his  mother,  grand-nephew  to  the  historian, 
Robertson,  was  born  in  Edinburgh  in  1778  and 
educated  at  the  High  School  and  Edinburgh  Univer- 
sity. After  being  called  to  the  Scottish  bar  in  1 800, 
and  having  tested  his  abilities  by  practising  as  Poor 
Advocate  (t.  e.,  the  advocate  officially  appointed  to 
represent  those  who  were  unable  to  pay  for  legal 
advice)  on  the  southern  circuit,  he  joined  with 
Jeffrey  and  Sydney  Smith  in  starting  the  "Edinburgh 
Review,"  an  enterprise  of  which  we  shall  have  more 
to  say  in  a  future  chapter.  To  the  first  number  of 
the  Review  he  contributed  three  articles,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  responsible  for  no  less  than  eighty  in 
the  first  twenty  issues.  This  was  the  commence- 
ment of  that  life  of  restless  energy  which  kept 
Brougham  always  to  the  front  in  whatever  circle  he 
found  himself  and  led  him  to  do  much  good  work 
and  many  regrettable  actions.  A  good  story  is  told 
of  him  at  this  period,  which  illustrates  curiously  the 
clear  and  definite  form  which  his  ambition  had 
already  taken.  The  authorship  of  some  of  the 
articles  in  the  first  number  was  being  discussed  in 
Brougham's  presence — (the  incognito  of  the  various 
writers  was  very  carefully  preserved  at  first) — at  the 


His  birth 
and  educa- 
tion. 


Called  to  the 
Bar. 


Assists  in 
starting  the 
"  Edinbnrgh 
Review." 


The  object  of 
his  ambition 
Anecdote. 


24 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Similar  pre- 
dictions. 


Brougham 
settles  in 
London. 


His  Essay 
on  the  "  Co- 
lonial Policy 
of  European 
Nations." 


table  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  a  prominent  Whig  advocate, 
and  the  host  spoke  in  high  praise  of  a  review  of 
Professor  Black's  ' '  Chemistry. "  The  writer  of  such 
article  could,  he  said,  do  or  be  anything  he  pleased. 
"What,  Mr.  Fletcher!"  cried  Brougham,  leaning 
eagerly  forward,  "may  he  be  Lord  Chancellor?" 
"On  which,"  says  Mrs.  Fletcher  who  relates  the 
anecdote,  "my  husband  repeated  his  words  with 
emphasis,  'Yes,  Lord  Chancellor,  or  anything  he 
desires. ' "  And  Lord  Chancellor  he  was,  some  quarter 
of  a  century  later.  It  is  curious  to  compare  this 
story  with  some  similar  predictions  which  have 
lately  come  before  us,  the  confident  expectation  that 
W.  E.  Gladstone,  then  merely  a  brilliant  young 
undergraduate  and  the  ardent  professor  of  an  ante- 
diluvian Toryism,  would  come  to  be  Prime  Minister, 
and  still  more  remarkable  that  young  Tait  would  one 
day  be  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Edinburgh,  however,  soon  proved  too  small  a  sphere 
to  contain  Brougham,  and  he  determined  to  settle  in 
London,  having  entered  one  of  the  English  Inns  of 
Court  in  1803.  In  the  same  year  he  published  an 
essay  on  the  "Colonial  Policy  of  European  Nations," 
which  received  considerable  praise.  In  London  he 
kept  up  his  work  for  the  "  Edinburgh  Review  "  and 
studied  law,  besides  exerting  himself  in  the  anti- 
slavery  cause,  which  gained  him  the  approval  and 
support  of  Wilberforce  and  his  party.  In  1806  he 
accompanied  the  Earl  of  Rosslyn  and  Lord  St.  Vin- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


cent  on  their  special  mission  to  Lisbon  as  secretary, 
and  gained  fresh  credit  for  the  ability  he  displayed  in 
this  capacity.  In  1808  he  was  called  to  the  English 
bar,  where  he  achieved  considerable  distinction, 
though  apparently  more  by  oratory  than  by  the  other 
branches  of  forensic  science  which  are  more  highly 
approved  by  the  legal  profession,  and  in  1815  was 
returned  to  Parliament  as  member  for  Camelford. 
With  his  subsequent  public  career  we  have  little  to 
do ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  after  being  for  a  long 
time  one  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the  oppo- 
sition, he  was  raised  to  the  woolsack  in  1830  on  the 
Whigs  coming  into  power,  a  position  which  he  re- 
tained till  1835.  He  was  for  a  long  time  the  chief 
adviser  of  Caroline,  Princess  of  Wales,  and  the  leading 
counsel  for  the  defence  at  her  trial.  He  did  good 
work  as  the  opponent  of  slavery  and  the  advocate  of 
law  reform,  but  it  is  through  the  services  he  rendered 
to  the  cause  of  education — understood  in  its  broadest 
and  most  catholic  sense — that  he  comes  into  our 
sphere.  In  1825  appeared  his  valuable  "Observa- 
tions on  the  Education  of  the  People,"  in  which  he 
urged  the  necessity  of  increasing  the  knowledge  of 
the  poorer  classes  by  the  introduction  of  popular 
hand-books,  such  as  would  give  a  sufficient  insight 
into  many  subjects  that  were  now  hidden  from  them. 
In  the  following  year  he  formed  the  "Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  "  to  carry  out  his  sug- 
gestions, and  wrote  the  first  volume  for  their  publi- 


Secretary  to 
;he  mission 
to  Lisbon. 


Raised  to  the 
woolsack. 


Chief  adviser 
of  Caroline, 
Princess  of 
Wales. 


Forms  the 
"  Society  for 
the  Diffusion 
of  Useful 
Know- 
ledge." 


26 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Charles 
Knight. 


"  Knight's 
Quarterly 
Review.' — 
Eminent 
contributors. 


Origin  of  the 

London 

University. 


"Library  of 
Entertaining 
Know- 
ledge." 


cation  himself,  "A  Discourse  on  the  Objects,  Advan- 
tages and  Pleasures  of  Science." 

In  the  second  year  of  its  existence  this  Society 
entrusted  its  publications  to  Charles  Knight,  who  had 
already  done  something  of  the  same  kind  of  work  on 
his  own  account.  Charles  Knight,  the  son  of  a 
Windsor  bookseller,  born  in  1791,  had  till  now  lived 
a  struggling  life  as  journalist,  editor  and  publisher, 
his  chief  success  having  been  achieved  by  a  short- 
lived periodical  called,  "Knight's  Quarterly  Mag- 
azine," to  which  Praed,  Macaulay,  William  Sydney 
Walker,  Derwent  and  Henry  Nelson  Coleridge,  and 
John  Moultrie  were  the  chief  contributors.  A  more 
efficient  aide-de-camp  Brougham  could  not  have 
found,  especially  as  his  own  multifarious  employ- 
ments would  not  allow  him  to  devote  too  great  a 
portion  of  his  own  time  to  the  work,  and  he  had 
already  turned  to  the  prosecution  of  another  pet 
scheme,  the  provision  of  better  scientific  education 
for  the  upper  classes,  towards  which  a  great  step  was 
made  in  1828  by  the  establishment  of  the  London 
University,  of  which  the  original  project  had  been  laid 
before  the  world  three  years  before  in  the  "Observa- 
tions on  Education." 

While  working  zealously  for  the  society,  instituted 
by  Brougham,  Knight  conceived  the  plan  of  starting 
a  somewhat  similar  enterprise  on  his  own  accoun^ 
which  shortly  afterwards  took  form  in  his  ' '  Library 
of  Entertaining  Knowledge."  His  right  hand  man 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


in  this  and  other  undertakings  was  George  Lillie 
Craik,  who  attracted  much  notice  by  a  collection  of 
popular  biographies  under  the  title  of  "The  Pursuit 
of  Knowledge  Under  Difficulties,"  an  expression 
which  has  become  almost  proverbial.  Among  other 
contributions  to  the  same  series  were  his  "Sketches  of 
the  History  of  Literature  and  Learning  in  England," 
afterwards  enlarged  into  a  "  History  of  English  Liter- 
ature and  of  the  English  Language,"  published  in  1861. 
Craik  was  also  the  principal  editor  of  Knight's  Picto- 
rial History  of  England,"  begun  in  1838,  and  the 
author  of  many  other  historical  works.  In  1849  ne 
was  appointed  to  the  professorship  of  English  His- 
tory and  Literature  in  the  Queen's  College  at  Belfast, 
which  he  retained  till  his  death  in  1866.  Among 
other  writers  who  contributed  to  the  "Library  of 
Entertaining  Knowledge,"  may  be  mentioned  Sir 
Henry  Ellis,  principal  librarian  of  the  British  Mu- 
seum, whose  name  is  best  known  in  connection  with 
his  immensely  valuable  collection  of  "Letters Illustra- 
tive of  English  History"  (1826-1846)  ;  and  Ambrose 
Poynter,  father  of  the  well-known  painter,  and  him- 
self a  great  authority  on  all  points  connected  with 
the  fine  arts,  especially  architecture. 

To  complete  the  record  of  Charles  Knight's  hard 
working  career  we  may  mention  his  other  most  popu- 
lar production,  the  "Pictorial  Bible,"  edited  by  Dr. 
John  Kitto,  and  the  "Pictorial  Shakespeare,"  edited 
by  himself,  "Knight's  Store  of  Knowledge  for  all 


George  Lillie 
Craik. 


His  popular 
biographies 
and  other 
works. 


Professor  of 
English 
Literature  at 
Belfast. 


Sir  Henry 

Ellis. 


Ambrose 
Poynter. 


Knight's 
hard-work- 


28 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Matthew 

Davenport 

Hill. 

"The  Penny 

Magazine." 


"  The  Penny 
Cyclopae- 
dia." 


Lord  Broug- 
ham's ener- 
gy in  his  lat- 
ter days. 


Readers,"  to  which  as  to  many  other  collections  the 
publisher  contributed  articles  of  his  own.  In  1832 
Knight  started  with  Matthew  Davenport  Hill  the 
idea  of  a  "Penny  Magazine,"  which,  upon  receiving 
Brougham's  approval,  was  set  going  and  attained  an 
extraordinary  circulation.  The  "Penny  Cyclopae- 
dia," a  still  more  daring  undertaking,  was  not  at- 
tended with  such  success,  and  finally  entailed  a  heavy 
loss  upon  its  publisher.  The  Magazine  maintained 
its  popularity  for  a  dozen  years  and  was  withdrawn 
when  its  sale  declined  in  1845.  In  the  ensuing  year, 
the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Entertaining  Know- 
ledge, which  had  lately  sustained  some  heavy  losses, 
made  its  last  bow  to  the  public  and  retired  from  the 
stage,  with  the  usual  little  address  to  its  former 
patrons. 

Brougham  was  apparently  little  moved  by  the  fate 
of  his  unfortunate  bantling,  having  too  many  other 
things  to  think  of  to  occupy  himself  with  so  small  a 
matter.  Though  by  this  time  an  old  man,  he  had 
still  energy  to  devote  to  his  various  avocations  as 
statesman,  judge,  man  of  letters  and  savant.  Science 
in  particular  was — next  to  the  exercise  of  his  judicial 
functions — the  great  delight  of  his  latter  days.  The 
extent  of  his  knowledge  and  the  extraordinary  variety 
of  subjects  it  embraced  was  a  wonder  to  all ;  but  it 
seems  probable  that  the  desire  to  know  something  of 
every  subject  prevented  him  from  giving  sufficient 
attention  to  any  to  obtain  a  really  thorough  know- 


,ord  Brougham. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


ledge.  He  was  an  extraordinarily  prolific  writer, 
but  none  of  his  works  have  lived  :  perhaps  the  best 
known  being  his  "Memoirs  of  the  Statesmen  of  the 
Reign  of  George  III."  (1839-1843).  He  died  in  1868 
at  the  age  of  ninety.  In  his  latter  years  he  had  been 
so  ill-advised  as  to  write  an  autobiographical  work, 
published  after  his  death  as  the  "Life  and  Times  of 
Lord  Brougham,"  which  has  neither  accuracy  nor 
impartiality  to  recommend  it  to  the  reader.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  sup- 
press the  last  volume  of  the  "  Life"  as  left  by  Broug- 
ham. Charles  Knight  survived  his  former  patron  for 
about  four  years,  having  also  published  in  later  life 
an  autobiography,  entitled,  ' '  Passages  of  a  Working 
Life  during  Haifa  Century"  (1813-1865). 

In  the  same  connection  may  be  mentioned  another 
enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  popular  knowledge,  Dio- 
nysius  Lardner  (1793-1859),  who  is  chiefly  remem- 
bered by  his  great  enterprise  of  the  "Cabinet  Cyclo- 
paedia," in  which  Connop  Thirlwall's  "History  of 
Greece,"  Eyre  Evans  Crowe's  "  History  of  France, " 
John  Forster's  "Lives  of  English  Statesmen,"  and 
other  standard  works  were  first  published. 

Very  much  the  same  kind  of  work  as  Brougham 
and  his  society  were  doing  in  London,  was  carried 
on  about  the  same  time  with  much  more  abiding 
success  in  Edinburgh  by  the  brothers  Chambers. 
William  and  Robert  Chambers  were  the  sons  of  a 
poor  cotton-merchant  in  Peebles ;  William,  who  was 


His  ill- 
ad  vised  auto- 
biography. 


Dionysius 
Lardner. 


His  great 
work,  "The 
Cabinet  Cy- 
clopaedia." 


William  and 

Robert 

Chambers. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Their 

father's 
losses. 


Removal    of 
the  Cham- 
bers family 
to  Edin- 
burgh. 


Stories  of 
their  early 
life. 


born  in  1 800,  being  the  elder  by  a  couple  of  years. 
Their  father  suffered  considerable  loss  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  mechanical  loom,  which  put  an  end  to 
his  little  establishment  of  hand-loom  weavers.  A 
draper's  shop  which  he  opened  at  Peebles  proved  no 
more  fortunate  speculation,  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  its  failure  being  the  generosity  with  which 
hambers  offered  unlimited  credit  to  the  French 
prisoners  in  the  town,  none  of  whom  ever  paid  him 
a  farthing.  On  the  failure  of  the  shop,  the  Chambers 
family  moved  to  Edinburgh,  where  Thomas  Chambers 
obtained  a  situation  as  manager  of  some  saltworks. 
His  son  William  was  apprenticed  to  a  bookseller  at  a 
very  early  age ;  Robert,  to  whose  education,  as  he 
lad  been  intended  for  the  Church,  more  attention 
was  paid,  attended  a  school  in  Edinburgh,  and 
shared  the  garret,  which  was  all  his  brother  could 
afford  to  pay  for  out  of  a  salary  of  four  shillings  a 
week.  The  boys,  who  were  both  born  students, 
studied  together  as  well  as  they  could  in  the  early 
mornings.  Many  curious  stories  are  told  of  the 
shifts  they  were  put  to  at  this  period.  In  the  dark 
winter  mornings  study  was  impossible,  as  fire  or 
candle  were  out  of  the  question,  but  William  was 
"ortunate  enough  to  strike  a  bargain  with  a  baker, 
whereby  he  agreed  to  read  to  him  and  his  two  sons 
as  they  worked  at  the  oven  from  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  for,  and  in  consideration  of,  one  hot  penny 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


roll,  fresh  from  the  oven,  not  to  speak  of  the  warmth 
of  the  bakery. 

In  1816  Robert  left  school,  and  after  some  ineffec- 
tual attempts  at  tuition  and  employment  as  a  clerk 
hi  an  office,  from  which  he  was  dismissed  as  too 
stupid,  set  up,  by  his  brother's  advice,  as  a  book- 
seller with  a  stall  in  Leith  Walk,  his  only  stock  con- 
sisting of  his  school  books  and  a  few  old  volumes 
belonging  to  his  family.  William,  when  his  period 
of  apprenticeship  was  over,  also  started  a  stall  in  the 
same  thoroughfare,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  at- 
tract the  interest  of  a  good-hearted  book-agent,  to 
whom  he  had  rendered  some  slight  service  and  who 
trusted  him  with  some  cheap  editions  of  standard 
books  to  the  amount  of  £10.  William  also  taught 
himself  book-binding,  that  he  might  save  a  few 
pence  by  buying  books  in  sheets  and  putting  them 
into  covers  himself.  He  also  constructed  for  him- 
self a  rude  printing-press,  and  bought  some  worn 
type  cheap,  with  which  he  laboriously  printed  an 
edition  of  the  "Songs  of  Burns,"  and  also  a  "His- 
tory of  the  Gipsies"  written  by  himself.  Things 
being  now  in  a  comparatively  prosperous  condition, 
— the  "  Burns  "  having  produced  a  profit  of  ^"9, — 
William  and  his  brother  Robert,  who  had  himself 
done  almost  as  well,  determined  to  publish  a  maga- 
zine to  be  called  the  "  Kaleidoscope,"  or  "  Edinburgh 
Literary  Amusement,"  of  which  Robert  was  to  be 
the  writer,  while  William  was  to  do  absolutely  every- 


William  sets 
up  as  a  book- 
seller. 


Constructs 
his  own 
printing 
press. 


First    publi- 
cations. 


"The  Ka- 
leidoscope.' 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Robert's 
successful 
start  as  a 
writer. 


"  Traditions 
of  Edin- 
burgh." 


Chambers's 
Edinburgh 
Journal. 


Their  ener- 
getic enter- 
prise. 


thing  else  connected  with  it,  except  make  the  paper 
on  which  it  was  printed  The  strain  however  proved 
too  great  for  the  two  lads,  and  after  about  a  year 
of  struggle,  the  ' '  Kaleidoscope  "  disappeared. 

The  bookselling  business,  however,  prospered, 
and  both  brothers  soon  removed  to  new  and  better 
premises.  Robert  had  also  made  a  successful  start 
as  a  writer,  publishing  in  succession  a  number  of 
works:  "Illustrations  of  the  Author  of  Waverley," 
"Traditions  of  Edinburgh,"  a  book  which  excited 
the  generous,  ever-ready  admiration  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  "Walks  in  Edinburgh,"  a  collection  of  "Pop- 
ular Rhymes  of  Scotland,"  a  "  History  of  the 
Rebellion  of  1745,"  of  "Rebellions  in  Scotland,"  and 
a  "Life  of  James  I."  William  produced  his  "  Book 
of  Scotland,"  in  the  same  year,  and  the  brothers  also 
collaborated  in  a  "Gazetteer  of  Scotland."  "Cham- 
bers's Edinburgh  Journal,"  the  periodical  upon  which 
their  prosperity  was  finally  established,  appeared  in 
1832,  at  first  under  the  charge  of  William  only,  as 
Robert  had  shrunk  from  the  risk  of  the  undertaking, 
and  in  the  same  year  the  two  brothers  entered  formally 
into  partnership  as  the  firm  of  W.  and  R.  Chambers. 
From  this  time  forward  William  and  Robert  fell 
naturally  into  the  places  most  suited  to  their  natures 
and  to  the  common  advantage,  WTilliam  taking  upon 
himself  the  burden  of  the  business  management,  while 
Robert  devoted  himself  more  entirely  to  literature. 
The  publications  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


33 


Useful  Knowledge  suggested  a  good  and  profitable 
example  to  follow.  In  1833  was  commenced 
"Chambers's  Information  for  the  People,"  in  1835 
"Chambers's  Educational  Course,"  in  1844  a 
"  Cyclopaedia  of  English  Literature,"  and  in  1859  the 
greatest  enterprise  of  all,  ' '  Chambers's  Encylopaedia, " 
of  which  the  first  edition  was  completed  in  1868.  In 
his  individual  capacity,  Robert  Chambers  produced 
anonymously  a  work  upon  the  "Vestiges  of  the 
Natural  History  of  Creation,"  of  which  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  in  a  future  chapter.  Among  his 
later  books  were  "Ancient  Sea  Margins,  "a  scientific 
treatise,  published  in  1848  ;  the  "Life  and  Works  of 
Burns,"  1851  ;  the  "Domestic  Annals  of  Scotland," 
1859-1861,  and  that  curious  repository  of  odds  and 
ends  of  information,  the  "Book  of  Days,"  1862-1864. 
Robert  Chambers  died  in  1871,  the  immense  labour 
entailed  by  his  last  work  having  to  a  great  extent 
worn  out  his  strength.  His  last  years  were  spent  at 
St  Andrews,' the  University  of  which  had  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 

Greater  honors  awaited  his  brother  William,  who 
was  twice  elected  Lord  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  a  com- 
pliment which  would  have  been  paid  to  Robert  also, 
but  for  the  opposition  excited  among  the  most  ortho- 
dox of  the  councillors  by  some  expressions  in  the 
"Vestiges  of  Creation."  Much  credit  attaches  to  the 
magistracy  of  William  Chambers  from  the  scheme 
which  he  started,  or  at  least  supported  with  all  the 


Chambers's 
Encyclopz- 
dia. 


"  Vestiges  of 
Creation." 


"The   Book 
of  Days." 


Last  years  of 

Robert 

Chambers. 


Honors  con- 
ferred on 
William 
Chambers. 


34 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Restoration 
of  St.   Giles 
Cathedral. 


Receives  a 
baronetcy. 


weight  of  his  official  position,  for  the  restoration  of 
St.  Giles's  Cathedral,  a  work  which  was  finally  com- 
pleted just  before  his  death,  at  his  sole  expense. 
William  Chambers  had  written  little  in  the  meantime 
except  an  account  of  a  "Tour  in  Holland  and  the 
Rhine  Countries,"  published  in  1839;  but  the  finest 
work  of  his  life  was  the  "Memoir  of  Robert  Chambers, 
with  Autobiographic  Reminiscences,"  which  ap- 
peared the  year  after  his  brother's  death.  Judging 
only  from  this  work, — which  is  full  of  graphic  and  de- 
lightful details  of  a  "  Self-Help  "  more  interesting  and 
genial  than  anything  in  Mr.  Smiles',  and  which 
has  a  special  charm  from  the  pleasant  picture  it  gives 
of  the  brotherly  love  subsisting  between  the  two  rich 
old  men  as  between  the  two  penniless  boys, — we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  William  Chambers  would  have 
been  quite  the  equal  of  his  brother,  Robert,  in  litera- 
ture, if  he  had  followed  his  bent  in  that  direction. 
William  outlived  Robert  by  several  years,  dying  as 
late  as  1883.  Just  before  his  death  he  was  offered  a 
baronetcy  by  Mr.  Gladstone  and  accepted  it,  but  the 
patent  failed  to  reach  him  in  time. 

At  the  time  of  her  Majesty's  accession  the  Chambers 
brothers  were  prosperous  young  publishers,  in  the 
full  tide  of  one  of  their  most  successful  ventures,  the 
"Educational  Course,"  to  which  Robert  Chambers 
contributed  some  of  his  best  work.  The  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge  was  also  in  its 
fullest  work,  and  quite  confident  of  rapid  success  in 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


35 


the  regeneration  of  the  world.  But  the  world  itself 
was  not  greatly  excited  by  these  efforts  ;  il  en  avait 
bien  vu  d'autres.  Mr.  Robert  Owen  was  ready  with 
a  cut-and-dried  plan  for  its  instant  transformation 
into  a  paradise  of  equality  and  labour ;  but  the  world 
only  laughed  and  went  about  its  business  as  usual  in 
its  old  exasperating  way.  It  was  aware  that  strange 
things  were  happening,  which  it  did  not  yet  quite 
understand,  in  many  ways.  Railways  had  become 
an  accepted  commonplace,  and  steam  communica- 
tion with  the  most  distant  lands  across  the  sea  was 
proving  to  be  not  the  wild  legend  which  people  in 
general — and  the  "Quarterly  Review  "  in  particular — 
had  believed  it  to  be — although  no  steam-vessel  had 
yet  ventured  on  a  longer  voyage  than  that  between 
Holyhead  and  Dublin.  But  science  had  begun  to 
appear  distinctly  a  thing  to  be  encouraged,  and  it 
was  gratifying  to  learn  from  the  papers  that  "Dr. 
Andrew  Smith  has  just  obtained  from  the  Govern- 
ment a  grant  of  money  to  enable  him  to  publish  the 
whole  of  the  zoological  drawings  made  during  the 
late  expedition  into  Africa.  A  grant  for  a  similar 
purpose  has  also  been  made  to  Charles  Darwin,  Esq., 
who  brought  to  this  country,  after  his  voyage  in  the 
surveying  ship  '  Beagle, '  such  an  immense  addition 
of  species  in  different  branches  of  zoology.  This  far- 
off  presage  of  things  to  come  has  a  strange  effect 
upon  the  reader  nowadays." 

Meanwhile  for  those  that  loved  such  subjects  there 


Robert 
Owen. 


Government 
grants  in  aid 
of  science. 

Dr.  Andrew 
Smith. 


Charles 
Darwin. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Buckland. 
Mantell. 

\ 

Whewell. 


The  Record 
Commission. 


Sir     Francis 
Palgrave. 


W.F.  Skene. 


Carlyle. 


"The  Athe- 
nseum"      on 
"  Sartor 
Resartus." 


were  the  works  of  Professor  (afterwards  Dean)  Buck- 
land,  and  Dr.  Gideon  Mantell  on  geology,  and  other 
books  on  more  or  less  scientific  themes.  For  those  who 
required  yet  more  solid  food  there  was  some  hope  in 
the  advertisement  of  Mr.  Whewell's  work  upon  the 
"  Inductive  Sciences."  History  was  hardly  at  a  pre- 
mium, but  there  was  plenty  of  excitement  about  the 
new  Record  Commission,  the  sixth  which  had  been 
appointed  since  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  the 
interesting  personal  question  of  its  relations  with, 
and  treatment  of,  Sir  Francis  Palgrave.  This  might 
induce  some  inquiring  minds  to  examine  the  sin- 
gular production  of  that  gentleman,  in  the  form  of  a 
kind  of  historical  novel,  on  "Truths  and  Fictions  of 
the  Middle  Ages,"  the  object  of  which  was  to  bring 
more  clearly  home  to  the  reader  the  manners  of  a 
by-gone  age  through  the  impersonation  of  two 
remarkable  characters,  the  Merchant  and  the  Friar, 
— Marco  Polo  and  Roger  Bacon.  There  was  also  a 
work  of  Mr.  W.  F.  Skene's  on  the  Highlanders,  which 
was  well  spoken  of ;  and  if  it  were  worth  while  to 
consider  such  matters  at  all,  there  was  a  queer,  wild 
"  History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  by  the  man  who 
was  responsible  for  that  extraordinary,  undigested 
piece  of  nonsense, — Sartor  Resartus,  was  it  called? 
— which  "Fraser's  Magazine"  had  been  somehow 
persuaded  into  printing  last  year.  That  author  had 
got  his  lesson  severely  from  the  "  Athenaeum"  of  the 
day.  "Originality  of  thought,"  said  that  organ,  in 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


37 


a  pithy  and  decisive  passage,  "  is  unquestionably  the 
best  excuse  for  writing  a  book ;  originality  of  style 
is  a  rare  and  refreshing  merit ;  but  it  is  paying  rather 
dear  for  one's  whistle  to  qualify  for  obtaining  it  in  the 
university  of  Bedlam."  The  whole  book,  it  seemed, 
was  marked  by  "  inconsistency  of  thought  and 
vagueness  of  expression,"  and  such  an  extravagance 
of  style  as  must  be  regarded  as  a  "decided  mark 
of  the  decadence  of  literature."  That  an  unknown 
person  like  Carlyle  should  persist  in  writing  after 
such  plain  speaking  as  this,  was  no  doubt  a  curious 
rebellion  against  all  the  laws  of  criticism. 

The  recent  interference  of  Parliament  in  matters  ec- 
clesiastical had  fluttered  the  dove-cotes  of  the  Church, 
and  produced  a  shower  of  pamphlets,  denouncing 
the  iniquities  of  the  new  Commission.  The  Bishop 
of  Exeter  headed  the  attack,  and  a  motley  train  of d 
Churchmen  and  laymen  followed  in  his  train.  The 
people  were  called  upon  to  note  the  "vast  enlarge- 
ment of  the  operations  of  this  body,"  and  solemnly 
warned  that  "  every  passing  year  would  probably  be 
marked  by  some  fresh  accession  until  the  country  be 
accustomed  to  see  it  invested  with  attributes  com- 
pared to  which  the  highest  authority  over  the  Church 
claimed  by  the  Tudors  or  the  Stuarts  would  appear 
powerless  and  insignificant." 

The  recommendation  of  the  Commission  that  the 
patronage  vested  in  Cathedral  Chapters  should  be 
transferred  to  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  produced 


The  new 
Commission 
.enounced. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Protest 
against  the 
Commis- 
sion's re- 
commenda- 
tion. 


Sydney 
Smith. 


W.   S.  Lan- 
dor. 


Bowles. 


J.  H.  New- 
man. 


Mr.  Tail. 


another  storm  of  remonstrance.  The  most  loyal 
Churchmen,  in  their  disgust  at  the  proposed  change, 
joined  with  others  of  a  more  secular  spirit  to  demon- 
strate the  unfitness  of  the  Bishops  for  such  a  trust. 
Canon  Sydney  Smith  related  how  these  prelates  were 
wont  to  treat  the  inferior  clergy  in  a  manner  which 
none  of  their  servants  would  submit  to,  and  Mr.  W. 
S.  Landor,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Lord  Melbourne, 
under  the  signature,  "A  Conservative,"  brought 
even  graver  charges,  while  the  gentle  poet-canon, 
Bowles,  uplifted  a  plaintive  voice  of  protest  against 
the  idea  that  any  body  of  men  exercised  their  patron- 
age better  than  residentiary  canons.  The  Church 
had  its  spiritual  adversaries  also,  and  ecclesiastical 
circles  were  looking  forward  with  some  interest  to 
the  advertised  work  of  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Newman  on 
Romanism  and  Dissent,  which  would  no  doubt  prove 
that  the  only  salvation  lay  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Others,  however,  distrusted  Mr.  Newman,  and  asserted 
that  the  last  tract  on  the  Breviary  was  not  at  all  the 
sort  of  thing  for  a  Vicar  of  St.  Mary's  to  write.  There 
was  even  a  sort  of  attempt  in  the  academic  circle  at 
Oxford  to  get  up  an  opposition  party  of  men  of  more 
moderate  views,  among  whom  a  young  Scotch  don, 
Mr.  Tait  of  Balliol,  was  prominent ;  but  this  attempt 
came  to  nothing. 

The  outer  world,  however,  was  as  yet  little  excited 
by  these  commotions  during  a  quiet  and  peaceful 
period  which  was  not  ashamed  of  its  own  medi- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE 


39 


ocrity.  There  was  plenty  of  literature  for  all  require- 
ments, if  it  was  not  of  the  very  highest  class.  True, 
a  new  light  had  appeared  in  the  world  of  fiction,  and 
the  public,  who  had  hardly  done  laughing  at  the  in- 
exhaustible fun  of  "Pickwick,"  were  now  chuckling 
over  the  pomposity  of  Mr.  Bumble,  and  watching 
with  awakening  interest  the  fortunes  of  the  Artful 
Dodger.  Before  Dickens  there  had  been  Captain 
Marryat  and  many  others  quite  sufficiently  entertain- 
ing for  a  not  exacting  age.  There  was  Mrs.  Trol- 
lope's  "Vicar  of  Wrexhill,"  Miss  Landon's  "Ethel 
Churchill"  and  Lady  Blessington's  "Victims  of 
Society,"  not  to  speak  of  the  "  Sayings  and  Doings  " 
of  Theodore  Hook,  with  which  the  world  of  1837 
was  mildly  contented.  Then  there  were  always  the 
Annuals  to  look  forward  to  at  the  end  of  the  year  : 
the  "Keepsake,"  and  the  "Christian  Keepsake" 
which  James  Montgomery  was  the  great  standby ; 
the  ' '  Forget-me-not "  with  some  charming  little 
tales  of  Mary  Howitt ;  "Fisher's  Drawing-room 
Scrapbook,"  by  L.  E.  L.,  and  "Fisher's  Juvenile 
Scrapbook, "  by  Miss  Strickland ;  and  all  the  picture 
books,  the  "Flowers  of  Loveliness,  with  poetical 
illustrations  by  L.  E.  L.,"  and  the  "  Gems  of  Beauty, 
with  fanciful  illustrations  by  the  Countess  of  Bless- 
ington."  For  those  who  sought  something  more 
distinctly  amusing  there  was  the  new  "Comic 
Annual,"  lately  started  by  Tom  Hood.  And  among 
all  these  trifles  the  year  1837  produced  two  great 


Literature 
abundant 
1837- 


'Pickwick." 


Oliver 
Twist." 


Vicar  of 
Wrexhill." 

Victims  of 
Society." 

Sayings 
and 
Doings." 


ie"  Keep- 
sakes." 


Scrap- 
books.^ 


Hood's 
"  Comic  An- 
nual." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Two  great 
books. 


The  origin 
and  develop- 
ment of  peri- 
odical litera- 
ture. 


books,  one  generally  received  with  all  the  praise 
that  it  merited,  the  other,  which  had  only  found  a 
publisher  with  great  difficulty,  sneered  at  and  cried 
down  on  every  side, — John  Gibson  Lockhart's 
"Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,"  and 
Thomas  Carlyle's  "History  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion." 


CHAPTER  II. 

OF  THE  MEN  WHO  HAD  ALREADY  MADE  THEIR  NAME.  AND 
ESPECIALLY  OF  JOHN  GIBSON  LOCKHART,  AND  OF  PE- 
RIODICAL LITERATURE;  OF  WALTER  SAVAGE  LANDOR, 

AND  OF  LEIGH  HUNT. 

IN  order  to  comprehend  more  clearly  the  position 
and  objects  of  the  class  of  writers  of  whom  we  are 
about  to  speak,  the  work  that  they  set  before  them- 
selves and  their  qualifications  to  do  it  efficiently,  we 
are  obliged  to  go  rather  a  long  way  back  in  the 
history  of  literature,  to  the  time  from  which  our 
modern  periodical  literature  may  be  said  to  date. 
Periodicals  of  a  kind  had  existed  since  Steele  started 
his  "Tatler,"  in  1709,  but  these  were  of  an  entirely 
different  description,  holding  a  sort  of  intermediate 
rank  between  the  magazine  and  the  weekly  paper  of 
our  own  day.  But  for  the  origin  of  the  magazine  as 
we  now  know  it,  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  back 
further  than  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


It  is  now  almost  exactly  ninety  years  since  the 
first  great  undertaking  of  the  kind  was  launched 
upon  the  world  by  a  small  band  of  daring  adven- 
turers, who  had  neither  fame  nor  position  to  recom- 
mend them  to  the  public,  nor  even  sympathy  with 
the  common  opinions  of  the  society  in  which  they 
lived,  to  gain  a  favourable  hearing.  Two  young 
Whig  advocates,  whose  unpopular  political  views 
scared  clients  away  from  them  and  left  them  with 
plenty  of  time  on  their  hands,  conspired  together 
with  a  young  English  clergyman — whom  Fortune  or 
Providence  had  cast  up  as  a  sort  of  jetsam  on  the 
shores  of  Edinburgh,  when  he  had  been  trying  to 
set  forth  on  a  humdrum  professional  tour  in  an 
entirely  different  direction — to  astonish  the  world 
with  a  periodical  of  a  very  novel  description. 
Francis  Jeffrey,  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  leader 
of  the  enterprise,  though  Sydney  Smith  claimed  the 
honour  of  having  suggested  it,  was  a  genuine  Edin- 
burgh production.  Born  in  1773,  in  one  of  the  old 
houses  of  the  Lawn  market,  the  son  of  a  clerk  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  he  had  been  educated  at  the  High 
School,  from  which  he  was  sent  to  Glasgow  Univer- 
sity and  afterwards  for  a  short  time  to  Queen's 
College,  Oxford,  but  returned  to  study  law  in  Edin- 
burgh at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  was  called  to  the 
Scottish  bar  two  years  later,  in  1794.  He  was 
among  the  lights  of  the  famous  "Speculative  Society," 
to  which  all  that  was  best  in  young  Edinburgh  then 


The  origina- 
tors of  the 
"  Edinburgh 
Review.  " 


Francis 
Jeffrey — 
1773-1850. 


"Speculative 
Society." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Sydney 
Smith. 


Leading  fea- 
tures in  the 
"  Edinburgh 
Review." 


devoted  much  time  and  thought.  Brougham,  the 
second  person  of  the  mysterious  trinity  who  were 
responsible  for  the  new  "Edinburgh  Review,"  was 
also  a  High  School  boy  and  a  member  of  the  "Spec- 
ulative Society,"  as  was  also  young  Walter  Scott, 
who,  in  spite  of  his  Tory  principles,  was  a  frequent 
contributor  to  his  friend  Jeffrey's  periodical.  Sydney 
Smith,  the  last  of  the  three,  was  an  Englishman,  pur 
sang,  an  old  Wykehamist,  and  a  Fellow  of  New,  not 
to  speak  of  his  Anglican  orders,  which,  to  say  the 
truth,  do  not  appear,  at  this  period  at  least,  to  have 
lain  very  heavy  upon  him.  His  own  inclinations 
indeed  had  been  to  the  bar  rather  than  the  Church, 
but  family  reasons  made  the  latter  more  desirable. 
He  had  been  two  years  curate  of  a  small  parish  in 
Salisbury  Plain,  the  squire  of  which  appointed  him 
tutor  to  his  son,  with  whom  he  was  to  proceed  to 
the  University  of  Weimar.  Germany  was,  however, 
at  that  time  so  disturbed  by  political  convulsions 
that  the  original  idea  was  given  up,  and  "in  stress 
of  politics,"  says  Sydney  Smith,  "we  put  into  Edin- 
burgh, where  I  remained  five  years."  He  was  now 
a  year  or  two  over  thirty,  and  thus  the  oldest 
of  the  three,  Jeffrey  being  only  twenty-nine,  and 
Brougham  not  more  than  twenty-three. 

The  first  number  of  the  "Edinburgh  Review'' 
appeared  in  October  1802,  and  immediately  produced 
a  great  sensation,  not  only  in  Edinburgh,  but 
throughout  the  nation.  The  authorship  of  the  articled 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


43 


was  kept  an  absolute  secret,  nor  was  it  even  known 
with  any  clearness  from  what  quarter  the  new  publi- 
cation had  come,  except  that  Constable  was  the 
publisher.  The  great  feature  of  the  new  Review 
was  its  absolute  independence,  previous  periodicals 
having  usually  been  hampered  by  their  allegiance 
to  some  authority — occasionally  a  Party,  but  more 
usually  a  bookseller.  The  literary  and  political 
opinions  of  the  "Edinburgh,"  however,  were  to  be 
only  those  actually  entertained  by  the  writers.  This 
independence  naturally  led  to  some  of  those  attacks 
upon  writers  of  established  reputation — "giant-slay- 
ing," as  Frederick  Schlegel  called  it — which  particu- 
larly commend  themselves  to  the  rising  young  men 
of  each  generation.  This  tendency  was,  however, 
not  so  marked  as  might  have  been  expected  ;  there 
was  slaying,  no  doubt,  but  it  was  often  of  would-be 
giants,  whose  death  under  the  scalpel  of  Jeffrey  was 
more  glorious  than  their  life  had  ever  been.  The 
political  opinions  of  the  writers — though  in  Jeffrey's 
opinion  the  most  important  matter — were  at  first 
expressed  with  great  moderation,  so  that  Tories  like 
Scott  were  able  for  some  time  with  a  clear  conscience 
to  become  contributors  on  literary  subjects.  The 
first  numbers  were  edited  by  Sydney  Smith,  who, 
however,  soon  resigned  his  post  to  Jeffrey,  and 
returned  to  England ;  where,  though  he  continued  to 
contribute  to  the  Review  for  a  quarter  of  a  century 
more,  and  gained  a  reputation  as  one  of  the  finest 


Its  indepen- 
dence In  po- 
litics. 


Jeffrey  assu- 
mes the  edi- 
torship on 
Sydney 
Smith's     re- 
turn to  Eng- 
land. 


44 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Peter 

Plymley's 

Letters." 


Jeffrey  as  a 
critic. 


wits  of  his  time,  he  resumed,  with  modifications,  the 
work  of  his  profession,  and  found  preferment  in  the 
Church,  beginning  with  the  appointment  of  preacher 
to  the  Foundling  Hospital,  and  ending  thirty  years 
later  with  the  canonry  of  St.  Paul's,  which  he  retained 
to  his  death  in  1845.  His  work  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  coming  within  our  province,  as,  though 
he  was  for  the  first  seven  years  of  the  reign  acknow- 
ledged as  one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of  society  in 
London,  he  did  little  or  no  literary  work  during  that 
time  except  superintending  the  collection  of  his  vari- 
ous writings  for  publication  as  a  whole.  His  most 
successful  work,  perhaps,  was  the  series  of  "  Peter 
Plymley's  Letters  "  on  the  Catholics,  published  about 
1806,  and  his  connection  with  the  "Edinburgh  Re- 
view" ceased  in  1828. 

Jeffrey,  the  "arch-critic,"  as  he  was  sometimes 
called,  was  universally  looked  upon  as  the  soul  of 
the  "Edinburgh  Review."  His  work  was  marked 
by  great  ability,  and,  we  think,  by  a  spirit  of  justice, 
or  at  least  a  desire  for  justice.  That  he  made  violent 
and  bitter  attacks  upon  authors  who  did  not  deserve 
his  censure  cannot  be  denied,  but  it  is  equally  incon- 
testable that  he  was  saying  what  he  thought  was 
right.  A  striking  testimony  to  the  honesty  of  his 
intention  is  borne  by  Scott  in  a  letter  to  Southey, 
whose  "Thalaba"  had  been  most  unmercifully 
attacked  by  Jeffrey.  Modern  readers  will  perhaps 
think  that  censure  was,  in  this  case,  allowable. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


45 


Scott  was  desirous  that  Southey  should  send  some- 
thing to  the  ' '  Edinburgh  Review  "  in  spite  of  the 
criticism  upon  "Madoc"  and  "Thalaba."  "I  can 
assure  you,  "he  says,  "upon  my  honour,  that  Jeffrey 
has,  notwithstanding  the  flippancy  of  these  articles, 
the  most  sincere  respect  for  your  person  and  talents. 
The  other  day  I  designedly  led  the  conversation  on 
that  subject,  and  had  the  same  reason  I  always  have 
had  to  consider  his  attack  as  arising  from  a  radical 
difference  in  point  of  taste,  or  rather  feeling  of  poetry, 
but  by  no  means  from  anything  approaching  either 
to  enmity  or  a  false  conception  of  your  talents." 
This  remark  appears  to  us  to  give  a  picture  as  just 
as  kindly  of  the  motives  which  animated  Jeffrey's 
criticism.  It  was  only  a  few  months  later  that  he 
sent  his  severe  review  of  "  Marmion  "  to  Scott  with  a 
manly  note,  hoping  that  it  would  make  no  difference 
to  their  friendship,  but  repeating  that  he  had  spoken 
of  the  poem  exactly  as  he  thought ;  a  statement 
which  Scott  received  with  his  usual  magnanimity, 
confirming  his  invitation  to  Jeffrey  to  dinner  for  the 
same  night.  Later  on,  however,  Sir  Walter  consid- 
ered that  Jeffrey  had,  in  criticising  the  former's 
edition  of  Swift,  gone  beyond  the  limit  allowed  to  a 
friend  reviewing  a  friend's  work.  Such  a  reproach 
would  be  of  little  importance  to  the  frantically  in- 
corruptible Jeffrey,  the  bigotry  of  whose  literary 
virtue  would  recoil  from  the  idea  that  a  friend's  book 
had  any  claim  to  favourable  treatment ;  as  a  rigidly 


Scott  and 
Southey. 


His   unspar- 
ing severity. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Thomas 
Campbell 


Lockhart 
contrasts 
Scott  and 
Jeffrey. 


upright  minister  has  been  known  So  give  office  rather 
to  an  enemy  than  to  a  friend  of  equal  merit  from  a 
terror  of  acting  unjustly.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  Campbell  was  a  friend  of  Jeffrey's, 
and  that  Jeffrey  praised  "Gertrude  of  Wyoming,"  a 
circumstance  which  seems  to  throw  some  doubt 
upon  this  rigid  impartiality  :  yet  something  must  be 
allowed  in  this  case  for  the  taste  of  the  day.  The 
fault  that  we  have  nowadays  to  find  with  Jeffrey  is 
that  of  his  extreme  minuteness,  the  anxiety  not  to 
miss  any  detail,  which  seems  to  us  to  make  him 
often  miss  the  effect  of  the  whole,  and  to  find  faults 
instead  of  beauties  by  his  persistent  habit  of  looking 
down,  rather  than  up.  This  view  is  strangely  borne 
out  by  an  anonymous  friend  quoted  by  Lockhart, 
who  met  Scott  and  Jeffrey  together  and  conceived 
an  equal  admiration  for  the  conversation  of  both. 
He  adds,  however :  "It  struck  me  that  there  was  this 
great  difference — Jeffrey,  for  the  most  part,  enter- 
tained us,  when  books  were  under  discussion,  with 
the  detection  of  faults,  blunders,  absurdities  or  plagi- 
arisms ;  Scott  took  up  the  matter  where  he  left  it, 
recalled  some  compensating  beauty  or  excellence 
for  which  no  credit  had  been  allowed,  and  by  the 
recitation,  perhaps,  of  one  fine  stanza,  set  the  poor 
victim  on  his  legs  again."  Such  a  tendency,  •which 
is  by  no  means  uncommon  among  those  who  devote 
themselves  wholly  to  criticism,  might  even  perhaps 
account  for  the  praise  of  "Gertrude  of  Wyoming," 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


47 


which,  though  far  from  a  great  poem  as  a  whole, 
may  in  some  small  matters  of  detail  be  not  undeserv- 
ing of  commendation. 

Jeffrey  remained  at  his  post  as  editor  for  thirty 
years.  During  this  time  he  had  fought  down  the 
opposition  to  his  progress  at  the  bar,  and  risen  to  the 
head  of  his  profession,  holding  in  succession  the  ap- 
pointments of  Dean  of  Faculty,  Lord  Advocate,  and 
finally,  Lord  of  Session.  After  his  elevation  to  the 
Bench  he  wrote  no  more,  but  continued  to  take  a 
great  interest  in  literature,  and  especially  in  the  for- 
tunes of  the  ' '  Edinburgh  Review. "  He  died  in  1 850. 
He  was  succeeded  in  his  editorial  functions  by  Mac- 
vey  Napier,  an  old  contributor,  who  held  at  the  same 
time  the  various  offices  of  Clerk  of  Session,  Librarian 
to  the  Signet,  and  Professor  of  Conveyancing  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh.  Napier  was  a  man  of  large 
and  varied  knowledge,  and  was  known  as  having 
edited  the  seventh  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica  ;  but  he  made  no  particular  mark  in  literature. 
He  edited  the  "Edinburgh  Review"  till  his  death  in 
1847,  his  successor  being  Professor  William  Empson. 
Brougham  was  still  to  the  fore  as  a  contributor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  reign,  and  had,  in  his  usual  hector- 
ing manner,  asserted  a  kind  of  authority  over  the 
whole  Review,  bullying  the  editors  and  harassing  the 
contributors  as  during  his  lord  chancellorship  he 
had  bullied  the  king  and  worried  his  fellow-ministers. 
Among  the  younger  contributors  were  two  men  of 


Jeffrey     re- 
signs the 
editorship  on 
his  elevation 
to  the  Bench. 


Macyey 
Napier. 


Prof.  Emp. 
son. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Macaulay. 


The  "  Edin- 
burgh Re- 
view "  loses 
its  supre- 
macy. 


rising  talent,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
speak  elsewhere, — Thomas  Babington  Macaulay, 
whose  essay  on  Bacon  appeared  in  the  Review  in  the 
first  year  of  the  reign,  and  Thomas  Carlyle. 

The  "Edinburgh  Review,"  however,  had  long  lost 
the  lofty  position  it  had  occupied  before  any  rival 
appeared  in  the  field.  The  opposite  side  in  politics 
was  now  quite  as  strongly  represented,  nor  was 
there  immunity  from  opposition  even  among  the 
Review's  own  party.  As  far  back  as  1808  the  first 
blow  had  been  dealt  at  its  supremacy.  The  Tory 
party,  which  had  at  first  accepted  the  "Edinburgh 
Review  "  chiefly  as  a  literary  production,  the  political 
side  of  which  might  be  ignored  as  long  as  it  was 
managed  with  studious  moderation,  began  to  protest 
when  the  latter  became  the  most  conspicuous,  and  the 
Review  permitted  itself  to  be  made  the  vehicle  of 
extreme  opinions.  The  popularity  acquired  by  the 
able  writing  of  Jeffrey  and  his  supporters,  and  the 
fact  that  there  was  no  other  periodical  of  the  same 
class  in  existence,  made  the  Review  a  most  powerful 
agent  for  the  dissemination  of  political  propaganda. 
It  was  therefore  decided  to  start  an  opposition  Review 
entirely  under  Tory  direction,  which  was,  like  the 
"Edinburgh  Review,"  to  be  partly  political,  partly 
literary.  Sir  Walter,  whose  private  feelings  had  been 
hurt  by  what  he  thought  unwarrantable  criticism  in 
the  "  Edinburgh,"  while  his  patriotism  was  revolted 
by  an  outrageous  article  of  Brougham's  upon  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


49 


affairs  of  Spain,  readily  supported  the  project,  which 
also  received  the  approval  and  support  of  Canning. 
The  last  was  a  matter  of  great  importance,  as  it  must 
be  remembered  that  in  those  days,  when  newspapers 
were  few  and  Parliamentary  reports  extremely 
scanty,  the  first  intelligence  of  important  events,  and 
the  first  development  of  the  policy  of  cabinets,  were 
often  communicated  to  the  public  by  periodicals  of 
this  kind  having  relations  with  the  great  party- 
leaders. 

The  new  "Quarterly  Review"  was  accordingly 
begun  with  all  the  strength  of  the  opposing  party. 
It  was  published  in  London  by  John  Murray,  the 
editorship  being  confided  to  William  Gifford,  who  had 
previously  acted  as  editor  of  the  "Anti-Jacobin,"  and 
had  thus  been  brought  into  constant  relations  with 
Canning.  Among  other  distinguished  supporters  of 
the  new  periodical  were  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Southey, 
George  Ellis,  Croker,  and  the  Hebers.  Canning, 
though  eager  in  forwarding  the  enterprise,  had  little 
time  to  contribute,  though  he  is  said  to  have  colla- 
borated with  Ellis  in  a  humorous  article  on  the  ques- 
tion of  bullion,  which  appeared  in  1811,  and  Frere, 
whose  assistance  had  also  been  expected,  only  con- 
tributed a  single  article.  The  "Quarterly"  was, 
however,  a  great  success,  and  caused  much  alarm  to 
Jeffrey,  who,  in  an  interview  with  Scott,  offered  to 
pledge  himself  to  exclude  party  politics  from  the 
"Edinburgh"  should  this  rivalship  be  withdrawn. 


The  "  Quar- 
terly Re- 
view, " 

John 

Murray, 

publisher. 

Edited  by 

William 

Gifford. 


Its  distin- 
guished sup- 
porters. 


5° 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Edin- 
burgh "  and 
"Quarterly" 
as  rivals. 


Gifford  as  a 
satirist  and 
critic. 


There  were  only  four  men  whom  he  feared  as  oppo- 
nents, he  said,  three  of  whom  were  Sir  Walter  him- 
self, Southey,  and  Ellis.  The  fourth  he  would  not 
name  ;  perhaps  we  might  suggest  that  he  was  think- 
ing of  Canning.  It  was  certainly  unfortunate  for  him 
that  all  these  champions  should  be  on  the  opposite 
side;  but  the  "Edinburgh"  held  its  own.  notwith- 
standing all  opposition.  The  world  was  proved  to 
be  wide  enough  for  both  ;  and  Jeffrey  admitted  that 
the  cause  of  good  literature  was  advanced  by  the 
appearance  of  his  adversary.  Gifford  undeniably 
proved  a  strong  editor,  showing  most  of  the  qualities 
and  many  of  the  defects  natural  to  a  man  who  had 
served  such  a  literary  apprenticeship  as  he  had.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  poor  glazier  in  a  small  Devonshire 
town,  and  had  followed  the  plough  himself  as  a  lad, 
till,  after  an  accident,  which  incapacitated  him  for 
hard  work,  he  was  led  to  cultivate  another  kind  of 
capacity,  acquired  some  education  and  began,  partly 
by  his  own  efforts  and  partly  by  the  support  of  the 
kind  friends  it  was  his  good  luck  to  find  upon  his 
road,  to  raise  himself  in  the  world.  He  was  chiefly 
known  for  two  bitter  satires,  the  "  Baviad,"  and  the 
"  Mae viad,"  each  of  which  is  clever  enough  in  its 
way  ;  but  it  was  mere  butcher's  work,  no  giant-slay- 
ing here,  but  a  simple  slaughter  of  the  innocents. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  the  poor  little  Delia  Cruscans  may 
have  got  in  this  way  more  notice  than  would  other- 
wise have  fallen  to  their  lot,  just  as  a  certain  immor- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


tality  was  conferred  upon  Bavius  and  Maevius,  whom 
nobody  would  ever  have  heard  of,  if  Virgil  had  not 
expressed  his  contempt  for  them.  Southey  said  that 
Gifford  regarded  authors  as  Izaak  Walton  did  worms, 
as  unworthy  of  any  kind  of  sympathy.  He  and 
Croker  were  supposed  to  be  conjointly  responsible 
for  the  savage  attack  on  "Endymion,"  which  was 
(falsely)  said  to  have  killed  Keats  ;  but  here  the 
natural  bitterness  of  Gifford  was  no  more  cruel  than 
was  the  impulse  of  the  generous,  kind-hearted  Wil- 
son, whose  assault  upon  the  young  poet  in  "Black- 
wood's  Magazine  "  was  every  whit  as  severe.  Gif- 
ford retained  the  editorship  in  spite  of  failing  health 
till  1824,  when  he  resigned,  and,  after  a  short  inter- 
regnum, during  which  his  place  was  filled  by  John 
Taylor  Coleridge,  nephew  of  the  poet,  was  succeeded 
by  John  Gibson  Lockhart. 

Meanwhile  a  new  star  had  arisen  in  the  north,  in 
the  original  country  of  the  "Edinburgh."  In  1817 
William  Blackwood,  the  founder  of  the  well-known 
publishing  house  of  Blackwood,  a  man  of  sound 
common-sense  and  a  profound  insight  in  matters  of 
business,  determined  to  establish  a  periodical  of  his 
own.  After  a  first  unsuccessful  beginning,  under  the 
united  editorship  of  James  Cleghorn  and  Thomas 
Pringle,  the  energetic  publisher  took  the  management 
entirely  into  his  own  hands — as  has  been  invariably 
the  case  since  his  time,  the  head  of  the  firm  being 
always  the  editor  of  this  earliest,  strongest,  and  most 


The  attack 
on  "  Endy- 
mion." 


Lockhart 
editor  of  the 
"  Quar- 
terly." 


William 
Blackwood. 


"  Black- 
wood's 
Edinburgh 
Magazine." 


Cleghorn 
and    Pringle 
joint  editors. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  foun- 
ders of 
"  Black- 
wood." 


John  Gibson 
Lockhart. 


John 
Wilson. 


Hogg,  the 

Ettrick 

Shepherd. 


"The  Chal- 
dee  Manu- 
script." 


permanent  of  monthly  periodicals.  He  soon  gathered 
round  him  a  knot  of  the  cleverest  young  writers  in 
Edinburgh,  and  in  a  very  short  time  "Blackwood's 
Edinburgh  Magazine,"  as  it  was  called,  held  as  high 
a  position  as  the  "Edinburgh  Review"  itself.  A 
reckless  band  of  wild  wits  they  were,  whose  portraits 
still  hang  round  the  old  saloon  in  George  Street ;  the 
dark,  keen  face  of  Lockhart,  with  its  finely-chiselled 
features  and  thoughtful  expression  ;  the  noble  pres- 
ence of  Wilson — he  "whose  going  forth  was  comely 
as  the  greyhound,  and  his  eyes  as  the  lightning  of 
fiery  flame  " — his  handsome  features  lighted  up  with 
that  "powerful  expression  of  ardour  and  animated 
intelligence  "  which  won  De  Quincey  to  him  at  first 
sight ;  the  Ettrick  Shepherd  with  his  plaid  belted 
round  him,  and  his  rugged,  kindly  face,  among  others 
of  later  date  and  perhaps  lesser  degree  who  have  won 
their  place  in  that  Valhalla.  The  first  and  very  sen- 
sational entrance  upon  the  literary  stage  of  the  new 
magazine  was  made  in  a  singular  production  called 
the  "Chaldee  Manuscript,"  written  in  a  pseudo- 
biblical  style,  which  hit  off  various  prominent  mem- 
bers of  Edinburgh  society,  especially  on  the  Whig 
side,  in  such  a  manner  that  everyone  knew  who  was 
meant,  and  satirised  them  with  a  reckless  dash  and, 
we  might  almost  say,  impudence  of  wit,  which  took 
the  city  by  storm.  Several  hands  were  at  work  upon 
this  production.  Hogg  was  undoubtedly  the  origi- 
nator of  the  idea,  but  we  fancy  a  great  part  of  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


53 


working-out  depended  on  Lockhart  and  Wilson.  Sir 
William  Hamilton  is  said  to  be  responsible  for  one 
verse. 

The  brilliant  knot  of  young  writers  who  supported 
Blackwood  etablished  a  kind  of  club  at  Ambrose's 
tavern,  the  doings  and  sayings  of  which,  real  or 
imaginary,  were  chronicled  by  one  or  the  other  of 
them  in  the  series  of  "  Noctes  Ambrosianse,"  which 
continued  for  many  years  to  form  in  a  manner  the 
piece  de  resistance  of  each  number  of  the  magazine. 

The  choicest  of  these  appeared  between  the  years 
1825  and  1835,  when  they  were  almost  entirely  the 
work  of  Wilson.  John  Wilson,  better  known  perhaps 
by  his  nom  de  plume  of  Christopher  North,  was  born 
in  1785  at  Paisley,  where  his  father  owned  a  great 
gauze  manufactory.  His  education,  begun  at  a  small 
school  at  the  manse  of  Mearns,  where  he  seems  to 
have  had  as  much  chance  of  developing  his  bodily 
as  his  mental  powers,  was  continued  at  Glasgow 
University  and  ended  at  Oxford,  where  he  was  entered 
as  a  gentleman  commoner  at  Magdalen,  and  where  his 
athletic  successes  almost  eclipsed  those  of  a  more 
thoroughly  academical  nature.  Having  been  left 
with  a  great  command  of  money  at  his  father's  death, 
he  adopted  no  profession,  but  settled  down  at  Elleray 
on  the  banks  of  Windermere,  where  he  married  and 
devoted  himself  to  poetry  and  ease,  and  where  he 
attained  by  his  first  poem,  the  "Isle  of  Palms,"  a 
kind  of  brevet  rank  among  the  great  lights  of  the 


Sir   William 
Hamilton. 


"  Noctes 

Ambro- 

sianas." 


John  Wilson 
-"  Chris- 
topher 
North,"— 
his  birth  and 
education. 


"  The  Isle  of 
Palms." 


"The  City  of 
the  Pkgue." 


His  work  on 
"  Black- 
wood." 


Lake  School.  In  1815  the  loss  of  the  greater  part  of 
his  fortune  obliged  him  to  seek  more  remunerative 
employment ;  he  removed  to  Edinburgh  with  his 
family  and  was  called  to  the  Scottish  bar,  but  contin- 
ued to  devote  himself  chiefly  to  literature,  his  chief 
work  at  this  time  being  a  dramatic  poem  descriptive 
of  the  Great  Plague  of  1666,  called  the  "City  of  the 
Plague."  Neither  of  these  poems  have  done  much 
for  his  fame.  He  began  his  more  lasting  work  by 
writing  for  Jeffrey  in  the  ' '  Edinburgh, "  but  on  the 
reconstruction  of  "Blackwood,"  he  devoted  all  his 
energies  to  the  latter.  To  his  genius  is  probably  due 
the  construction  of  the  mise  en  scene  of  the  "  Noctes  " 
with  their  few  sharply  drawn  characters,  Christopher 
North,  Tickler,  and  the  Shepherd — especially  the  latter, 
in  whom  we  can  only  recognise  a  very  idealised 
portrait  of  the  real  Shepherd,  James  Hogg.  No  doubt 
there  may  have  been  in  that  strangely  mingled 
nature  of  Hogg's,  with  its  combination  of  roughness 
and  simplicity,  and  the  delicate  vein  of  real  poetry 
underlying  all,  as  much  material  as  was  required 
to  draw  upon,  but  the  noble  figure  of  the  Shepherd 
in  the  "  Noctes  "  seems  to  us  to  contain  much  more 
than  the  simple  study  from  life  could  afford.  The 
humour  of  the  ' '  Noctes  "  is  as  delightful  as  the  in- 
ter] ected  strains  of  a  higher  thoughtfulness  are  im- 
pressive. It  is  difficult  for  the  modern  reader  to 
enter  into  many  of  the  allusions  which  refer  to  inci- 
dents and  persons  only  prominent  at  that  particular 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


55 


time  and  place.  But  an  excellent  selection  has  been 
made  by  a  younger  follower  of  "Maga" — as  the 
genuine  Blackwoodsman  loves  to  call  his  Magazine — 
under  the  title  of  the  "Comedy  of  the  Noctes  Am- 
brosianae,"  in  which  most  of  the  gems  of  the  series 
may  be  found. 

The  "Noctes"  were  succeeded  by  a  series  of 
"Dies  Boreales,"  in  progress  at  the  commencement 
of  our  period,  which  were  less  successful.  In  1842 
a  collection  of  Wilson's  contributions  to  "Black- 
wood  "  was  published  under  the  title  of  the  "Recrea- 
tions of  Christopher  North ; "  he  had  also  written 
from  time  to  time  a  number  of  stories  of  varying 
merit.  He  had  in  1820  been  appointed  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy  in  Edinburgh  University,  though 
the  candidate  who  opposed  him  was  no  less  a  person 
than  Sir  William  Hamilton ;  the  election  was  con- 
ducted entirely  on  party  lines,  and  Wilson,  of  course, 
was  the  Tory  candidate.  He  made,  however,  an 
excellent  professor,  and  filled  the  chair  with  great 
success  for  more  than  thirty  years.  He  died  in 

1854. 

The  idea  of  Wilson  brings  before  us,  at  the  same 
time,  that  of  a  personage  who  bore  very  little  re- 
semblance to  him,  physical  or  mental.  It  must 
have  been  a  singular  sight  that,  which  could  often 
be  seen  on  the  Cumberland  hills,  or  in  the  country 
round  Edinburgh,  of  the  athletic  form  of  Wilson 
striding  along  with  the  queer  little  boyish  figure  in 


"  Recre- 
ations of 
Christopher 
North.* 


Appointed 
Professor  ol 
Moral    Phil- 
osophy. 


VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Thomas  de 

Quincey, 

1785-1859. 


Birth  and 
education. 


His  eccentric 
wanderings. 


"  Confes- 
sions of  an 
Opium- 
eater." 


its  shabby  clothes  trotting  at  his  heels.  This  strange 
companion  was  the  English  Opium-eater,  as  he  was 
called,  Thomas  de  Quincey,  whose  career  had  been 
at  least  as  extraordinary  as  his  appearance.  He 
was  born  at  Manchester  in  1785, — the  same  year  as 
Wilson, — and  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant. 
His  education  was  conducted  in  a  broken,  irregular 
sort  of  way,  chiefly  at  Bath  and  Manchester  schools, 
from  the  latter  of  which  he  ran  away  at  seventeen, 
and,  after  reporting  himself  at  his  mother's  house — 
his  father  having  long  been  dead — commenced  an 
extraordinary  life  of  vagabondage,  to  which  his 
family,  in  a  kind  of  despair,  were  induced  to  give 
their  sanction,  even  making  him  a  small  weekly 
allowance  as  long  as  he  kept  them  informed  of  his 
whereabouts.  After  wandering  over  the  greater 
part  of  North  Wales,  he  suddenly  disappeared  from 
all  eyes,  having  secretly  journeyed  to  London, 
where  he  had  some  wild  idea  of  raising  money  on 
his  expectations  from  the  Jews.  The  miseries  of 
his  life  there  are  more  or  less  told  in  the  "Confes- 
sions of  an  Opium-eater,''  including  many  strange 
stories  into  which  critics  have  thought  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  writer  had  largely  entered.  De  Quincey, 
however,  always  asserted  that  he  had  told  nothing 
but  the  truth,  though  he  dared  not  tell  the  whole 
truth  about  those  terrible  experiences.  The  legacy 
left  by  this  period  of  want  and  misery  was  percep- 
tible in  the  agonizing  internal  pains  from  which  he 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


57 


suffered  in  later  life,  and  which  were  supposed  to 
drive  him  to  taking  laudanum — and  a  certain  look  of 
horror  which  seemed  to  hang  about  his  face,  and 
made  Carlyle  say,  "Look  at  him;  this  child  has 
been  in  Hell ! "  After  about  a  year  in  London,  De 
Quincey  suddenly  returned  to  his  friends,  by  whose 
persuasion  he  went  up  to  Oxford,  as  an  under- 
graduate at  Worcester,  where  he  did  little  that  was 
remarkable  beyond  studying  German  metaphysics, 
and  beginning  his  pernicious  habit  of  opium-eating, 
or  rather  laudanum-drinking.  After  leaving  Oxford, 
he  sought  the  friendship  of  Coleridge  and  Words- 
worth, and  finally  took  up  his  residence  in  -the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  latter  at  Grasmere,  \vhere  the  next 
twrenty  years  of  his  life  were  mostly  spent.  He 
assisted  Coleridge  in  the  publication  called  "The 
Friend,"  and  was  on  intimate  terms  with  all  the 
famous  Lake  School;  but  his  great  ally  was  that 
Wilson  of  Elleray,  of  whom  we  have  just  been  speak- 
ing, whom  he  had  admired  at  a  distance  from  the 
first  time  he  saw  him,  as  little,  weak  men  do  admire 
the  big  and  strong,  and  whom  he  seems  to  have 
regarded  with  a  sort  of  doglike  fidelity  of  attach- 
ment. In  1816  he  married,  and  should  have  lived  a 
happy  life  but  that  the  opium  he  took  had  begun  to 
work  out  its  vengeance  upon  him.  His  first  real 
attempt  in  literature,  passing  over  a  year's  editing  of 
the  "Westmoreland  Gazette,"  was  perhaps  his  most 
remarkable  work,  the  "Confessions  of  an  Opium- 


The 
Friend. ' 


The  Lake 
School. 


His  attach- 
ment to 
Wilson. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  refined 
style. 


Sensation 
excited  by 
the  "Con- 
fessions." 


Contribu- 
tions to  the 
Magazines. 


"  Murder 
Considered 
as  One  of 
the  Fine 
Arts." 


eater,"  which  appeared  in  a  series  of  papers  in  the 
"London  Magazine"  for  1821.  The  extraordinary 
autobiography  contained  in  these  "Confessions" 
loses  nothing  in  the  telling ;  the  style  of  De  Quincey 
is  always  refined,  and  his  English  perfect,  while  for 
the  more  striking  qualities  of  the  narrator  we  would 
almost  say  that  the  pictures  of  the  wanderings  of 
the  friendless  lad  through  the  pitiless  streets  and  his 
strange  companionship  with  poor  Ann  of  Oxford 
Street  and  her  unhappy  sisters  are  almost  too  power- 
ful. The  sensation  excited  by  the  "Confessions" 
was  immense.  Many  critics  regarded  them  as 
entirely  a  work  of  imagination,  and,  as  we  have 
said,  it  is  still  doubtful  how  much  of  the  narrative 
may  be  genuine.  De  Quincey,  however,  always 
asserted  it  to  be  so,  and  the  point  can  never  be 
cleared  up  now. 

De  Quincey  continued  for  some  years  to  contribute 
to  the  "  London  Magazine,"  and  also  found  employ- 
ment upon  "Knight's  Quarterly  Magazine."  At  a 
later  period  Wilson  had  introduced  him  as  a  person- 
age in  some  of  the  "Noctes,"  obtained  for  him  the 
entree  to  "Blackwood's  Magazine,"  in  which  his 
famous  paper  on  "  Murder  Considered  as  One  of  the 
Fine  Arts,"  appeared  in  February,  1827.  The  ex- 
quisite humour  of  this  essay  seems  even  more  won- 
derful when  it  is  contrasted  with  the  rollicking  fun 
of  the  introduction  and  the  power  of  thrilling  narra- 
tive shown  in  the  appendix,  which  describes  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


59 


murders  actually  committed  by  a  fiend  named 
Williamson.  The  artist  who  could  draw  Toad-in-the- 
Hole  and  his  companions  had  naturally  an  additional 
title  to  the  consideration  of  Christopher  North,  who 
felt  a  generous  pride  in  the  success  of  his  protege. 
His  connection  with  "  Blackwood  "  being  thus  firmly 
established,  De  Quincey  and  his  family  moved  to 
Edinburgh  in  1830,  where  he  continued  to  write  for 
that  periodical,  becoming  also  in  1834  a  contributor 
to  "Tail's  Magazine,"  in  which  appeared  his  further 
"Sketches  from  the  Autobiography  of  an  English 
Opium-eater. " 

At  the  beginning  of  the  reign  De  Quincey  was 
writing  in  both  the  magazines  named,  and  continued 
to  do  so  for  twelve  years  longer,  his  principal  con- 
tributions to  "  Blackwood  "  being  the  "  Suspiria  de 
Profundis  " — a  sort  of  continuation  of  the  "  Con- 
fessions," and  the  "English  Mail  Coach,"  the  latter 
containing  some  of  the  finest  pices  of  his  prose 
poetry.  When  his  connection  both  with  "Black- 
wood  "  and  "  Tait "  was  for  some  unexplained  reason 
severed,  he  found  a  friend  in  a  bookseller,  named 
Hogg,  at  whose  suggestion  he  set  about  a  collection 
of  his  own  works  which  occupied  his  time  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  The  first  volume  appeared  in 
1853,  and  the  fourteenth  shortly  after  his  death  in 
1860;  two  more  volumes  were  subsequently  added 
to  complete  the  collection.  Strange  accounts  are 
given  of  his  latter  years,  which  he  passed  chiefly  in 


Sketches 
from  the 
Autobio- 
graphy of  an 
English 
Opium- 
eater." 


"  Suspiria 
de  Profun- 
dis." 

'  The  Eiv 
;lish  Mail 
Doach." 


His  latter 
years. 


Go 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


John  Gibson 

Lockhart 

1794-1854. 


His  versatil- 
ity of  genius 
and  high  po- 
sition in 
literature. 


"  The    scor- 
pion." 


a  solitary  lodging  in  Edinburgh,  so  as  to  be  near  his 
publisher.  His  family  had  lived  at  a  cottage  near 
Lasswade,  for  some  time  after  his  wife's  death,  but 
were  by  this  time  dispersed  in  all  directions.  Two 
of  his  sons  were  dead,  the  others  scattered ;  one 
daughter  alone  remained  at  Lasswade,  receiving  her 
father  there  from  time  to  time  when  the  spirit  moved 
him.  De  Quincey  survived  Wilson  by  five  years, 
dying  in  December,  1859. 

Hogg,  who  died  a  couple  of  years  before  the 
Queen's  accession,  does  not  belong  to  our  period. 
The  remaining  member  of  the  little  society  which 
made  the  glory  of  Edinburgh  Tory  circles  in  those 
early  days  was  in  some  sense  the  most  important  of 
the  party.  Though  his  writings,  with  one  excep- 
tion, are  not  numbered  among  the  classics  of  our 
literature,  like  those  of  De  Quincey — though  in  power 
of  thought  and  expression  he  was  perhaps  never  the 
equal  of  Wilson,  none  of  that  brilliant  company 
displayed  a  greater  versatility  of  genius,  none  cer- 
tainly attained  a  higher  position  in  the  world  of 
literature  or  extended  their  influence  over  a  wider 
sphere  than  John  Gibson  Lockhart.  Shrewd  and 
brilliant,  and — in  spite  of  the  bitter  wit  which  gained 
him  in  his  youth  the  name  of  the  "scorpion" — 
liberal  in  his  criticism,  powerful  and  versatile  in 
fiction,  and  no  mean  master  of  the  art  of  verse, 
Lockhart  would  be  deserving  of  a  high  place  among 
the  writers  of  his  day,  even  without  the  greatest 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


work  of  his  life ;  but  as  the  biographer  of  Sir  Walter, 
humanity  owes  him  a  debt  greater  than  to  any  of 
his  contemporaries.  The  whole  civilised  world  has 
come  at  one  time  or  another  under  the  magical 
influence  of  Scott,  and  has  followed  and  wondered 
and  admired  a  leader  whose  influence  is  perhaps 
only  less  universal  than  that  of  Shakespeare;  it  was 
left  for  Lockhart  to  strengthen  and  enlarge  the  sphere 
of  that  influence  by  showing  the  world  that  among 
the  noblest  works  of  the  great  enchanter  there  was 
none  so  great  and  noble  as  himself.  Only  one  age 
could  be  privileged  to  stand  by  and  witness  the  tri- 
umphs and  struggles  of  that  splendid  life,  and  that 
only  with  the  imperfect  and  confused  insight  of  con- 
temporaries, swayed  and  biassed  by  a  hundred  tran- 
sient motives  of  petty  prejudice  or  partisanship.  In 
Lockhart's  masterly  delineation,  worked  out  appar- 
ently without  art  or  effort,  only  with  a  loving  care 
that  no  detail  should  be  lost,  no  feature  blurred  or 
concealed,  the  man  as  he  was  in  life  stands  forth  to 
all  time.  There  is  no  one  of  us  but  may  pass  what 
time  he  pleases  as  the  sharer  of  his  walks  or  his 
studies  in  the  grounds  of  Abbotsford  or  the  study  in 
Castle  Street ;  and  no  man  surely  can  return  to  the 
ordinary  work  of  his  life  without  being  the  better  for 
the  pure  influence  of  that  high  companionship.  In 
reward  for  such  a  work  as  this  we  could  hardly  give 
too  high  a  place  to  the  writer. 
John  Gibson  Lockhart  was  born  in  1794,  at  Cam- 


His  masterly 
delineation 
of  Scott. 


62 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  family 
and  educa- 
tion. 


A  caricatur- 
ist. 


Knowledge 
of  foreign 
literature. 


Studies  for 
the  Bar. 


busnethan,  where  his  father,  a  cadet  of  an  ancient 
and  honourable  family,  the  Lockharts  of  Milton- 
Lockhart,  was  minister.  His  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  a  well-known  Edinburgh  minister,  the 
Rev.  John  Gibson  of  St.  Cuthbert's,  so  that  he,  though 
in  later  years  not  much  resembling  this  characteristic 
origin,  was  one  of  the  many  "Sons  of  the  Manse" 
who  have  illustrated  Scottish  history.  His  father 
being  appointed  minister  of  the  Blackfriars  Church  in 
Glasgow,  he  was  educated  at  the  High  School  and 
University  of  that  city,  from  which  he  proceeded  to 
Oxford  through  the  medium  of  one  of  the  Snell 
exhibitions  open  to  Glasgow  students  at  Balliol. 
Lockhart's  youth  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  marked 
by  an  irrepressible  tendency  to  caricature  everybody 
he  came  across,  especially  his  pastors  and  masters, 
and  by  a  very  strong  turn  for  modern  languages. 
In  French,  German,  Italian,  and  even  Spanish  litera- 
ture, he  was  as  well  versed  on  leaving  college  at 
nineteen — where  he  took  a  first-class,  though  most 
of  his  time  in  the  examination  was  spent  as  usual  in 
caricaturing  the  examiners — as  most  men  expect  to 
be  with  the  reading  of  a  life-time.  He  spent  a  year 
or  so  in  travelling  in  Germany,  paying  his  expenses 
by  a  translation  of  Friedrich  Schlegel's  "Lectures  on 
the  Study  of  History,"  and  returned  to  Edinburgh  to 
study  for  the  Scottish  bar,  to  which  he  was  called  in 
1816.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  had  much  success 
as  an  advocate,  but  found  a  more  congenial  field  in 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


literature,  being,  as  we  have  already  seen,  one  of 
the  original  staff  of  "Blackwood."  In  the  famous 
"Manuscript,"  Lockhart  is  described  as  "the  scorpion 
from  a  far  country," — which  is  presumably  Chaldee 
for  Lanarkshire — "which  delighteth  to  sting  the 
faces  of  men,"  and  his  mission,  which  he  certainly 
discharged  very  thoroughly,  was  to  "sting  sorely 
the  countenance  of  the  man  which  is  crafty"  (Con- 
stable), "and  of  the  two  beasts,"  i.  e.,  Cleghorn,  the 
"bear,"  and  Pringle,  the  "lamb,"  who  had  now 
become  editors  of  Constable's  "Scots  Magazine." 
Polemics,  however,  were  by  no  means  his  only, 
though  perhaps  at  this  time  his  strongest,  point ;  for 
we  believe  that  to  many  of  the  sharpest  articles  in 
the  "  Noctes, "  it  was  Lockhart  that  contributed  the 
salt  and  pepper.  His  literary  articles  showed  wide 
reading,  and,  in  general,  sound  scholarly  criticism, 
and  he  did  good  service  as  the  champion  of  Words- 
worth and  Coleridge  against  the  attacks  of  the 
"Edinburgh  Review."  About  this  time,  also,  his 
"Spanish  Ballads "  began  to  appear  in  Blackwood. 
We  cannot  perhaps  gjve  any  very  high  praise  to 
these  productions,  which,  however,  had  a  great 
reputation  in  their  day,  but  they  are  never  without 
spirit,  and  contain  some  stirring  passages.  In  1 8 1 8 
one  of  the  greatest  events  of  Lockhart's  life  occurred, 
his  presentation  to  Walter  Scott,  then  at  the  very 
zenith  of  renown  and  success  with  no  arriere-pensee 
to  detract  from  his  happiness.  A  characteristic 


His  stinging 
criticisms. 


Defends 
Wordsworth 
and  Cole- 
ridge. 


Spanish 
Ballads." 


Introduced 
to   Sir   Wat 
ter  Scott. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Becomes 
Scott's  son- 
in-law. 
1820. 


"  Peter's 
Letters  to 
his  Kins- 
folk." 


result  of  a  conversation  by  which  Scott  was  pleased 
and  interested  in  his  young  acquaintance  was  a  note 
from  the  Ballantynes,  a  few  days  after,  saying  that 
as  Mr.  Scott  found  little  time  now  to  supply  the 
historical  department  for  their  "  Edinburgh  Annual 
Register,"  it  would  be  "acceptable  to  him  as  well  as 
to  them,"  if  Lockhart  would  undertake  it — a  very 
pleasant  windfall  for  a  young  litterateur. 

Lockhart's  intimacy  with  Sir  Walter  grew  apace, 
and  was  soon  made  more  binding  by  his  attachment 
to  Sophia  Scott,  whom  he  married  in  1820.  From 
this  time  forth  he  was  his  father-in-law's  right  hand 
man,  behaving  towards  him  in  all  respects  as  an 
affectionate  son.  His  literary  work  had  been  con- 
tinued with  great  success  meanwhile.  In  1819 
he  published  an  extraordinary  jeu  d' esprit  entitled 
"Peter's  Letters  to  his  Kinsfolk,"  which  purported  to 
reproduce  the  impressions  of  Dr.  Peter  Morris,  a 
Welsh  physician,  travelling  in  Scotland  and  entertain- 
ing his  relatives  with  amusing  and  outspoken  com- 
ments on  everything  and  everyone  he  saw.  These 
were  by  no  means  gratifying  to  the  Edinburgh 
society,  which  found  itself  satirised  with  considerable 
freedom,  and  Lockhart  himself  seems  in  after  days 
to  have  been  rather  ashamed  of  his  joke  ;  but  Scott 
was  immensely  amused  by  it  and  thought  many  of 
the  comments  very  just,  so  that  the  author  cared 
little  for  other  criticism.  "Peter's  Letters  "may  be 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  farewell  to  the  reckless  humour 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


of  Lockhart's  younger  days.  After  his  marriage  he 
attempted  more  serious  work,  his  four  novels  being 
published  in  the  four  ensuing  years,  "Valerius,  a 
Roman  Story,"  in  1821;  "Adam  Blair,"  in  1822; 
"Reginald  Dalton,"  in  1823,"  and  "Matthew  Wald," 
in  1824.  These  are  of  varying  merit,  the  greatest 
praise  being  certainly  due  to  the  very  powerful  and 
intensely  painful  tragedy  of  "Adam Blair,"  in  which, 
what  we  should  call  in  spite  of  the  wild  mirth  of 
early  days,  the  natural  melancholy  of  Lockhart's 
genius  has  full  scope.  "  Reginald  Dalton  "  is  a  work 
of  an  entirely  different  description,  a  tale  of  college 
life  chiefly,  full  of  liveliness  and  dash  with  an 
occasional  touch  of  intense  pathos  to  temper  it. 
The  famous  scene  of  the  flight  over  the  shifting  sands 
of  Holland  would  in  itself  give  life  to  the  dullest 
book.  "Valerius"  is  one  of  many  praiseworthy 
efforts,  made  at  various  times  by  various  persons,  to 
cause  dry  bones  to  live,  and  is  not  much  above  or 
beneath  the  level  of  most  efforts  of  the  kind.  In 
1826  Lockhart  was  appointed  to  the  important  post 
of  editor  of  the  "Quarterly  Review."  He  still,  how- 
ever, kept  up  his  relations  with  Edinburgh,  and 
besides  contributing  to  "Blackwood,"  supplied  a 
sympathetic  "Life  of  Burns,"  full  of  good  judgment 
and  good  feeling,  which  still  holds  its  ground  as  the 
best  account  of  the  poet,  to  Constable's  "Miscellany." 
Murray  was  about  this  time  starting  a  series  entitled 
the  "Family  Library,"  intended  to  rival  Charles 


"  Valerius, 
a  Roman 
Story." 

"  Adam 
Blair." 

"  Reginald 
Dalton." 


"  Matthew 
Wald." 


Becomes 
ditor  of  the 
"  Quarterly 
Review," 
1826. 


66 


THE   VICTORIAN  AGE  OP 


At  the  height 
of  his  reputa- 
tion. 


Heavy  fam- 
ily troubles. 
—Death  of 
his  son. 
John  Hugh. 


The  death 
of  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott. 


Preparation 
of  Sir  Wal- 
ter's biogra- 
phy. 


Knight's  "Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge;" 
Lockhart  was  chosen  to  superintend  its  production, 
and  led  the  way  himself  with  a  "  Life  of  Napoleon." 
He  was  at  this  time  at  the  height  of  his  literary 
reputation ;  perhaps  his  private  happiness  was  a 
little  less  complete  since  he  had,  for  the  time,  to  give 
up  Chiefs  wood,  the  cottage  near  Abbotsford  where 
Sir  Walter  was  wont  to  drop  in  at  all  hours,  lighten- 
ing up  the  whole  place  with  his  cheery  presence. 
Lockhart 's  position  at  the  head  of  the  "Quarterly" 
was  one  that  exactly  suited  him,  and  rarely  has  a 
review  had  a  more  brilliant  editor.  But  heavy 
troubles  were  awaiting  him.  Sir  Walter  was  begin- 
ning to  show  signs  of  exhaustion,  consequent  on 
the  grand  fight  he  was  maintaining  against  his 
pecuniary  embarrassments,  and  in  a  few  years  be- 
came a  confirmed  invalid.  In  1831  died  John  Hugh 
Lockhart,  the  "Hugh  Littlejohn"  of  the  "Tales  of  a 
Grandfather,"  and  the  next  year  came  the  great 
calamity  of  Sir  Walter's  death.  Anne  Scott  followed 
him  in  1833.  The  old,  happy  circle  was  thus  much 
narrowed.  From  the  time  of  his  father-in-law's 
death,  Lockhart  devoted  himself  to  the  duty  reserved 
for  him  as  the  literary  executor  of  Sir  Walter,  that  is, 
of  preparing  that  biography  of  which  we  have 
already  spoken.  The  difficulties  of  his  task,  especi- 
ally as  regards  the  journal  of  Sir  Walter,  are  expressed 
in  a  letter  to  Crocker,  nearly  twenty  years  later. 
Besides  many  other  views,  he  says  : 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


"  Scott  clearly  and  indeed  avowedly  considered  himself  as 
writing  what  would  one  day  be  published.  In  his  will  he  distinctly 
directs  what  shall  be  done  with  the  money  that  his  executors 
shall  obtain  in  respect  to  this  and  other  manuscripts.  But  he 
would  never  have  considered  himself  as  writing  a  diary  that  could 
be  published  in  extenso  during  the  life  of  anyone  whom  he  cared 
for  .  .  .  Greatly  feeling  the  responsibility  imposed  upon  me,  in 
selecting  for  publication  within  a  few  years  after  his  death,  I  had 
the  whole  of  his  diary  set  into  type,  in  order  that  I  might  obtain 
the  advice  throughout  of  his  most  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Morritt, 
and  another  person  who  knew  very  little  of  him  but  a  good  deal 
of  society  and  all  literary  questions — Milman.  Three  copies  were 
struck  off,  and  I  now  have  them  all,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  in 
course  of  time  some  heir  of  his  will  sell  the  complete  diary  for  a 
larger  sum  than  my  book  brought  for  the  relief  of  his  immediate 
representative  as  succeeding  to  an  over-burdened  estate  .  .  . 
Trusting  to  such  intervention,  both  diarists  "  (Scott  and  Moore, 
whose  memoirs  edited  by  Lord  John  Russell,  were  underdiscussion) 
"  absolved  themselves  from  any  very  strict  watch  over  their  pens 
— set  down  much  which  the  whim,  or  very  often  the  laziness  of 
the  hour  could  alone  account  for  .  .  .  Posterity  will  know  that 
I  at  least  endeavoured  to  avoid  the  offending  of  Scott's  surviving 
contemporaries,  and  you  will  not  doubt  that  I  had  to  spare  Tories 
about  as  often  as  Whigs  the  castigation  of  diarizing  Malagrow- 
ther." 


The  first  volume  of  the  "  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  " 
appeared  the  beginning  of  1837,  and  the  seventh  and 
last  in  May  1838.  In  the  course  of  its  publication  a 
great  grief  fell  upon  the  author  through  the  death  of 
his  wife,  but,  with  the  noble  example  of  the  subject 
of  his  biography  before  him,  the  bereaved  husband 
never  flagged  in  his  work.  We  have  already  spoken 
of  the  merits  of  this  great  work,  which  appears  to  us 
of  more  value  as  the  real  presentment  of  a  great  life, 
free  from  all  fictitious  adornment,  such  as  literary 


"  Life  of  Sir 

Walter 

Scott." 


Death  of 
Mrs.  Lock- 
hart. 


68 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  devotion 
to  the  work. 


Death  of  his 
son  Walter 


Lockhart 
retires  from 
the    "  Quar- 
terly." 


His  death. 


biographers  are  wont  to  lavish  upon  their  subjects, 
and  yet  living  and  moving  with  almost  the  very 
breath  of  life.  We  have  only  to  add  a  word  upon  the 
disinterested  and  at  the  same  time  able  manner  in 
which  the  biographer  has  effaced  himself,  great  as 
was  his  own  part  in  many  of  the  scenes  which  he 
recounts,  to  prevent  any  possible  obstruction  of  the 
view  of  the  principal  subject ;  though  at  the  same 
time  he  is  always  anxious  to  do  full  justice  to  any 
other  person  who  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  promi- 
nently connected  with  Sir  Walter.  We  seem  to  know 
Sir  Adam  Fergusson  as  well  as  Scott  himself ;  Laid- 
law  and  Tom  Purdie  and  the  Ballantynes  are  distinct 
and  living  figures,  and  many  of  lesser  importance  are 
almost  as  clear,  the  author  alone  being  discreetly 
withdrawn  unless  his  presence  is  needed  to  make 
clearer  or  more  life-like  the  scenes  in  which  he  takes 
part. 

Lockhart  continued  to  edit  the  "Quarterly"  for 
the  first  fifteen  years  of  her  Majesty's  reign  with 
equal  success,  if  perhaps  with  diminished  ardour. 
In  1852  his  son  Walter  died,  and  his  death  was  a 
heavy  blow  to  his  father.  In  the  ensuing  year, 
Lockhart  resigned  his  post  on  the  "Quarterly"  and 
retired  broken-hearted  to  Abbotsford,  then  rented,  and 
afterwards  owned  by  his  daughter,  and  her  husband, 
James  Robert  Hope,  a  Parliamentary  barrister  of 
high  reputation.  About  a  year  later  he  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty,  some  six  months  later  than  his  old  friend 


John  Gibson  Lock  hart. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


69 


Wilson,  and  was  buried  at  the  feet  of  Sir  Walter  in 
Dryburgh  Abbey. 

We  cannot  take  leave  of  the  brilliant  editor  of  the 
"  Quarterly  Review  "  without  a  glance  at  some  of  his 
contributors.  Chief  among  these  was  one  who  had 
aided  in  setting  up  the  "  Review,"  and  who  contin- 
led  to  be  one  of  its  most  industrious  writers  after,  as 
before,  the  time  of  Lockhart.  John  Wilson  Croker 
was  an  Irishman  born  and  bred,  but  had  long  turned 
his  back  on  the  too  limited  sphere  of  his  native 
country.  Born  at  Galway  in  1784,  a  schoolfellow  of 
Tom  Moore  at  Portarlington,  and  a  graduate  of  Trin- 
ity College,  Dublin,  we  hear  of  him  in  his  youth  as 
amusing  Dublin  society  with  much  the  same  kind  of 
squibs  and  satires  with  which  Wilson  and  Lockhart 
astonished  the  people  of  Edinburgh.  In  1807  he 
was  returned  to  Parliament  for  Downpatrick,  and  in 
the  same  year  brought  himself  before  the  London 
public  by  a  masterly  pamphlet  on  the  Catholic  ques- 
tion, entitled  "A  Sketch  of  Ireland,  Past  and  Present." 
In  1809  he  published  a  poem  on  the  battle  of  "Tala- 
vera,"  which  received  much  praise  not  only  from 
literary  critics,  but  also  from  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
and  various  great  personages  upon  whom  rested  his 
hopes  of  political  advancement.  He  was  appointed 
Secretary  to  the  Admiralty  in  the  same  year,  a  post 
which  he  retained  with  great  credit  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  steadily  refusing  promotion.  He 
had  joined  heartily  with  his  friend  Canning  in  the 


John  Wilson 

Croker, 

1784-1857. 


Secretary  to 
the  Admir- 
alty. 


7o 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  criti- 
cisms peculi- 
arly bitter. 


His  work  as 
editor. 


project  of  the  "Quarterly  Review,"  and  it  is  said 
that,  with  the  exception  of  a  period  of  five  years,  from 
1826  to  1831,  there  was  not  a  number  from  1811  to 
1856  which  did  not  contain  at  least  one  article  by 
Croker.  His  criticisms  were  too  often  marked  by  a 
peculiar  acrimony,  which  was  attributed  to  personal 
spite  or  revenge  for  satire  directed  against  himself ; 
but  we  believe  this  to  be  a  mistake,  as  Croker  appears 
to  have  been  singularly  insensible  to  adverse  criti- 
cism. His  review  of  Macaulay's  History  was  un- 
doubtedly an  act  of  vengeance  to  which  he  had 
looked  forward,  but  it  must  be  remenbered  that 
Macaulay  had  treated  Croker's  edition  of  Boswell 
with  such  an  unmerciful  flaying  as  even  an  eel  would 
cry  out  against.  Macaulay  and  Croker  had  many 
duels  in  Parliament,  in  which  the  brilliant  orator, 
whose  arguments  often  had  many  weak  points  for  a 
watchful  enemy  to  seize  upon,  did  not  always  come 
off  a  victor.  Croker  was  also  unmercifully  satirised 
by  Disraeli  under  the  character  of  Rigby  in  "Con- 
ingsby,"  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  seen 
this  attack  until  long  after  he  was  supposed  to  have 
answered  it.  He  was  the  conscientious  and  pains- 
taking editor  of  many  valuable  papers,  including  the 
"Memoirs  of  the  Embassy  of  Marshal  de  Bassom- 
pierre  to  the  Court  of  England  in  1626"  (1819),  the 
"Suffolk  Papers"  (1823),  "  Horace Walpole's  Letters 
to  Lord  Hertford"  (1824),  etc.,  etc.  His  edition  of 
Boswell  is  chiefly  known  from  Macaulay's  criticism. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


He  died  in  1857,  his  last  published  work  being  a 
reprint  from  the  "Quarterly"  of  "Essays  on  the 
Early  Period  of  the  French  Revolution,"  of  which 
period  Croker  was  commonly  supposed  to  know 
more  than  any  other  Englishman  living. 

A  newer  recruit,  whose  articles  added  greatly  to 
the  readable  qualities  of  the  "Quarterly  Review," 
made  his  first  appearance  in  1836  with  an  article 
upon  a  gastronomical  work  called  the  "Original" 
by  Mr.  Walker,  a  London  police  magistrate.  Abra- 
ham Hay  ward  was  born  near  Salisbury  in  1801  and 
educated  at  Peter  Blundell's  famous  school  at  Tiver- 
ton.  He  was  originally  articled  to  a  solicitor,  but 
abandoned  that  profession  for  the  bar,  to  which  he 
was  called  in  1832.  In  1828  he  set  up,  together 
with  W.  F.  Cornish,  a  periodical  called  the  "Law 
Magazine,  or  Quarterly  Review  of  Jurisprudence," 
which  speedily  achieved  a  high  position  and  brought 
to  Hayward,  who  became  sole  editor  after  the  fourth 
number,  a  great  reputation,  especially  among  foreign 
lawyers  and  law-writers.  In  1833  he  produced  a 
prose  translation  of  Goethe's  Faust,  which  brought 
him  into  notice  in  the  literary  world.  The  article 
on  the  "Original,"  mentioned  above,  with  another 
on  a  kindred  subject,  were  much  approved  and  were 
republished  some  fifteen  years  later  in  a  little  book 
under  the  title  of  the  "Art  of  Dining;"  no  other 
essay  of  his  achieved  such  a  success,  unless  it  be 
the  famous  "Pearls  and  Mock  Pearls  of  History,"  in 


Abraham 
Hayward, 
1801-1884. 


"  Law 

Magazine, 
or  Quarterly 
Review  of 
Jurispru- 
dence." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OP 


As  a  Maga- 
zine writer 


As  a  journal- 
ist. 


the  "Quarterly"  of  April,  1861.  We  have  classed 
him  as  a  "Quarterly"'  reviewer,  but  he  wrote  also 
in  the  "Edinburgh,"  "Fraser,"  and  other  periodicals. 
His  principal  subjects  were  law,  German  literature, 
the  letters  of  Junius,  and  gastronomy.  On  the  last 
subject  he  writes  with  a  combination  of  earnestness, 
sound  judgment  and  artistic  enthusiasm,  which 
makes  the  sympathetic  reader  exclaim,  "  Here  is 
indeed  a  man  and  a  brother  !  "  His  principal  fault 
as  a  writer  is  that  he  is  too  conversational;  his 
anecdotes  are  pleasant  and  his  style  chatty,  but  too 
disjointed  for  a  literary  production.  One  feels  that 
it  would  be  so  much  pleasanter  to  hear  viva  voce 
than  to  read.  In  1844  Hay  ward  was  made  a  Q.  C, 
presumably  as  an  able  writer  on  legal  questions,  for 
his  success  as  a  barrister  had  not  been  great.  In 
1847  he  produced  for  private  circulation  a  volume  of 
"Verses  of  other  Days,"  which  did  not  increase  his 
reputation.  Besides  the  magazines,  Hayward  wrote 
a  good  deal  in  the  "Times"  and  other  newspapers, 
his  most  noted  journalistic  efforts  being  those  in 
which  he  fought  the  battle  of  the  Government  in  the 
"  Morning  Chronicle  "  against  the  charges  of  neglect- 
ing the  army  in  the  Crimea,  brought  by  the  "Times." 
His  principal  reputation,  however,  was  due  at  all 
times  to  his  unrivalled  powers  of  conversation.  He 
died  in  1884. 

The  "  Edinburgh  "  and  "Quarterly  "  Reviews  were 
respectively  the  organs  of  the  Whig  and  Tory  parties, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


73 


supported  by  the  party  leaders  and  generally  ac- 
cepted by  the  rank  and  file.  There  was,  however, 
as  there  usually  is,  an  advanced  section  of  the  more 
progressive  party  to  whom  the  one  was  almost  as 
odious  as  the  other.  To  the  group  which  gathered 
round  Jeremy  Bentham,  headed  by  that  sternest  of 
philosophical  disciples,  James  Mill,  it  appeared  ad- 
visable to  start  a  periodical  on  their  own  lines,  and 
thus  a  new  rival  to  the  "Edinburgh"  arose  out  of 
its  own  camp  in  the  year  1823.  The  new  organ  of 
the  philosophical  radicals,  as  their  party  was  called, 
was  entitled  the  "Westminster  Review,"  and  its 
editorship,  after  being  refused  by  Mill  on  the  ground 
of  his  official  duties  at  the  India  House,  was  con- 
fided to  John  Bo  wring,  a  gentleman  of  good  family, 
born  at  Exeter  in  1792,  and  chiefly  known  for  his 
great  linguistic  powers,  exemplified  in  his  "Speci- 
mens of  Russian  Poetry,"  and  as  the  subject  of  a 
recent  most  unwarrantable  arrest  and  imprisonment 
at  the  hands  of  the  government  of  Louis  XVIII.  in 
France.  A  literary  review  projected  at  the  same 
time  by  Henry  Southern,  a  journalist  of  some  emi- 
nence, formerly  editor  of  the  "Retrospective  Review,'' 
and  later  on  of  the  "  London  Magazine,"  was  merged 
into  the  greater  undertaking,  and  Southern  became 
joint  editor  of  the  "  Westminster  Review,"  attending 
to  the  literary  portion  of  the  work  while  Bowring,  an 
enthusiastic  disciple  of  Bentham's,  and  later  his 
literary' executor,  managed  the  political  department. 


The  "  West- 
minster  Re- 
view," edit- 
ed by  John 
Bowring. 


Southern 
joint  editor 


74 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Bowling's 
wide  range 
of  know- 
ledge. 


An  ardent 
Reformer. 


The  firm  of  Longman,  "our  fathers  in  the  Row," 
refused  to  publish  the  Review,  on  seeing  the  pros- 
pectus prepared  by  James  Mill,  in  which  the  posi- 
tion of  the  new  Radicals  was  set  forth,  as  opposed 
to  the  Whig  and  Tory  divisions  of  the  governing 
body,  neither  of  whom  was  said  to  have  the  slightest 
care  for,  or  interest  in,  the  people ;  but  another 
publisher  was  soon  found,  and  the  new  venture  was 
started  with  great  vigour.  Bowring,  though  ostensi- 
bly the  political  editor,  was  too  much  a  man  of 
letters  not  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  other  depart- 
ment also,  to  which  he  contributed  many  valuable 
articles  upon  foreign  literature.  His  extraordinarily 
wide  range  of  knowledge  on  the  subject  is  proved 
by  the  volumes  of  translations  and  selections  from 
Russian,  Dutch,  Spanish,  Polish,  Hungarian,  Bohe- 
mian, and  Servian  literature,  published  at  various 
periods  from  1821  to  1832,  and  supplemented  at  later 
dates. 

Bowring  was  an  ardent  reformer,  and  did  good 
service,  especially  in  the  cause  of  free  trade,  on 
which  subject  he  had  gathered  a  great  store  of  know- 
ledge in  the  course  of  several  commercial  missions 
on  which  he  was  sent  by  the  Government  to  France, 
Belgium,  Holland,  Italy,  Prussia,  and  Turkey.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law 
League,  established  under  the  leadership  of  Cobden 
at  the  York  Hotel,  Manchester,  in  1838.  Bowring 
sat  in  Parliament  from  1835  to  1837,  and  from  1841 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


75 


to  1849.  He  afterwards  became  H.  B.  M's  consul 
at  Canton,  and  in  1854  was  appointed  plenipotentiary 
to  China,  as  well  as  to  the  courts  of  Japan,  Siam, 
etc.,  and  Governor  of  Hong  Kong,  all  of  which  posts 
he  filled  with  great  vigour  and  ability,  for  which  he 
was  rewarded  with  the  honour  of  knighthood. 
Among  his  later  works  were  the  "Kingdom  and 
People  of  Siam"  (1857),  "Siam  and  the  Siamese'' 
(1866),  and  some  translations  from  Chinese  literature. 
He  had  formed  in  early  life  a  gigantic  scheme  for  a 
history,  with  selections  of  the  popular  poetry  of  the 
world,  and  had  prepared  quantities  of  material  and 
secured  the  co-operation  of  eminent  men  of  letters  in 
many  countries,  but  the  work  was  too  vast  to  be 
ever  completed.  He  died  in  1872.  Among  many 
able  contributors  to  the  "Westminster  Review," 
under  Bowring's  editorship,  we  can  find  none  more 
brilliant  than  the  young  John  Stuart  Mill,  then  a 
clerk  under  his  father  in  the  India  House,  who  be- 
came joint  editor  of  the  magazine  in  1835.  A  fuller 
account  will  be  given  of  him  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

Among  the  smaller  magazines  had  also  arisen  one 
which  bade  fair  to  dispute  the  supremacy  of  "  Black- 
wood."  In  1830  Hugh  Fraser  and  William  Maginn 
combined  with  a  namesake  of  the  former,  James 
Fraser,  the  publisher,  to  start  a  periodical  to  be 
called  after  one  of  its  editors,  "Fraser's  Magazine.' 

Dr.  Maginn,  the  real  head  of  the  enterprise,  and  a 
man  of  very  remarkable  ability,  had  got  his  chiei 


"  Kingdom 
and  People 
of  Siam" 
(1857). 

Siam  and 
the  Siam- 
ese "  (1866). 


"  Fraser's 
Magazine." 


Dr.  Maginn, 
1794-1842. 


76 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Francis  Ma- 
honey  (Fa- 
ther Prout), 
1805-1866. 


literary  experience  in  the  very  magazine  which  he 
now  wished  to  attack.  Born  at  Cork  in  1794,  the  son 
of  a  local  schoolmaster,  and  educated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  from  which  he  received  in  1818  the 
degree  of  LL.  D.,  Maginn  was  at  first  a  teacher  in 
his  father's  school,  but  afterwards  devoted  himself  to 
literature,  and  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  "Black- 
wood,"  under  various  pseudonyms.  His  writing  was 
easy  and  spirited  and  showed  signs  of  scholarship  as 
well  as  natural  capacity,  but  the  license  of  attack 
which  he  allowed  himself  was  almost  greater  than 
even  the  iconoclasts  of  that  day  approved,  and  his 
irregular  habits  made  him  a  troublesome  contributor 
to  deal  with.  In  1823  he  married  and  came  to  Lon- 
don, where  he  found  employment  on  the  "  John  Bull " 
newspaper  and  was  afterwards  foreign  editor  of  the 
"Representative."  His  contributions  to  the  new 
magazine  were  remarkable  for  their  wit  and  power, 
but  disgusted  many  by  the  scurrilousness  of  the 
personal  attacks  which  appeared  in  "  Fraser." 

Among  the  contributors  he  gathered  round  him 
were  his  countryman  Mahoney,  Carlyle,  Thackeray, 
Peacock,  and  many  another  well-known  name,  of 
most  of  whom  we  shall  have  to  speak  in  due  time  and 
place.  Francis  Mahoney,  or  O'Mahoney,  born  in  1 805, 
began  life  as  a  priest  in  Ireland,  but  having  while 
still  in  early  life  abandoned,  or  been  abandoned  by, 
the  heads  of  that  sacred  profession,  first  made  him- 
self known  to  the  world  in  the  very  different  atmos- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


77 


phere  of  those  revels — which,  in  imitation  of  the 
"Noctes  "  of  "  Blackwood,"  were  a  kind  of  pretended 
necessity  of  every  literary  undertaking, — among  the 
lively,  somewhat  riotous  and  somewhat  profane  crew 
of  "Eraser."  Mahoney  called  himself  "  Father  Prout, " 
the  Friar  Tuck  of  the  jovial  company,  and  his 
sketches  had  some  success  in  their  time,  though  not 
so  much  as  his  songs,  one  of  which,  that  which 
tells  of 

"  The  Bells  of  Shandon 
That  sound  so  grand  on 
The  shining  waters 

Of  the  river  Lee," 

had  something  of  the  social  glory  which  Moore 
before  and  Lover  after  him  gained  by  their  own 
singing  of  what  was  perhaps  not  very  elevated  in 
poetry.  Mahoney  had  also  a  wonderful  gift  of  Ma- 
caronic verse,  which  he  could  knock  off  as  well  in 
Latin  as  English,  and  which  formed  a  chief  point  of 
the  Watergrasshill  papers  in  "  Fraser."  He  died  in 
Paris  in  1866,  forlorn  and  poor,  but  still  possessing 
something  of  the  sparkle  and  charm  of  former 
days. 

Maginn's  career  was  cut  short  much  sooner.  His 
reckless  manner  of  living  had  ruined  him  both  in 
health  and  pocket,  and  in  the  last  two  years  of  life 
he  was  repeatedly  arrested  for  debt,  and  was  finally 
obliged  to  "go  through  the  court,"  as  the  phrase 
was,  i.  e. ,  take  advantage  of  the  Act  for  the  Relief  of 


"  The  Bells 
of  Shan- 
don." 


His  gift  of 
Macaronic 
Verse. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Thomas 
Croftou  Cro- 
ker, 1798- 
1854- 


"  Fairy 
Legends  and 
Traditions  of 
the  South  of 
Ireland," 


The  early 
humourists 
of  the  Vic- 
torian age. 


Insolvent  Debtors.  He  thus  obtained  his  liberty  in 
1842,  but  he  never  recovered  the  disgrace  of  the 
proceedings,  and  died  in  the  same  year  at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight.  His  only  complete  work  appears  to 
have  been  a  political  novel  entitled  "Whitehall," 
published  in  1827.  Among  other  literary  work,  he 
collaborated  with  his  friend  and  countryman, 
Thomas  Crofton  Croker  (1798-1854),  author  of  several 
works  on  the  popular  songs  and  folk-lore  of  his 
native  country,  in  re-writing  the  latter's  well-known 
"  Fairy  Legends  and  Traditions  of  the  South  of  Ire- 
land," of  which  the  original  manuscript  had  been 
lost.  We  do  not  know  how  much  Maginn  or  any- 
one else  may  have  contributed  to  this  work,  but 
Croker  was  too  modest  to  allow  his  own  name  to 
appear  on  the  title-page  when  it  was  published, 
though  undoubtedly  responsible  for  the  principal  part 
of  it. 

So  far,  strangely  enough,  almost  all  the  wits  and 
satirical  writers  we  have  had  to  chronicle  have  been 
of  either  Scotch  or  Irish  extraction.  The  country- 
men of  Sydney  Smith,  however,  were  by  no  means 
ill  represented  in  this  development  of  literature. 
Among  the  most  popular  figures  in  London  society 
at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  none  were  in 
greater  request  than  the  pair  of  brothers  whose  chief 
title  to  notice,  next  to  their  great  social  gifts,  was 
the  memory  of  that  matchless  piece  of  pure,  un- 
alloyed, unmalicious  fun  which  was  still  remembered 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


79 


after  five  and  twenty  years  had  gone  by,  the  "Re- 
jected Addresses."  James  and  Horace  Smith  were 
no  longer  young,  the  former  being  a  little  over  and 
the  latter  a  little  under  sixty  years  of  age.  James, 
who  had  written  nothing  since  the  "Addresses" 
but  some  dramatic  sketches  for  Charles  Matthews, 
died  in  1839,  but  Horace  survived  him  for  ten  years, 
and  wrote  several  novels  in  the  reign  of  Victoria, 
none  of  which  can  be  said  to  have  lived.  If  any  of 
his  stories  be  remembered  now,  it  is  probably 
"  Brambletye  Hall,"  published  in  1826,  and  that 
could  have  little  more  than  an  archaeological  in- 
terest. 

Of  a  very  different  character  was  another  leading 
English  humourist  of  the  day,  who  comes  more  pro- 
perly within  the  scope  of  this  chapter  through  his 
connection  with  periodical  literature,  the  reckless 
Yorick,  who  was  wont  to  set  the  tables  in  a  roar  with 
his  boisterous  fun,  or  keep  a  company  sitting  half 
the  night  entranced  while  he  sat  at  the  piano  and 
improvised  musical  sketches  and  stories  without 
pause  or  effort.  Theodore  Edward  Hook,  son  of  the 
Vauxhall  organist  and  well-known  composer,  James 
Hook,  was  a  true  son  of  London,  born  in  Charlotte 
Street,  Bedford  Square,  in  1788.  In  his  youth  he 
distinguished  himself  by  writing  some  clever  farces 
and  perpetrating  some  astonishing  practical  jokes  on 
a  gigantic  scale.  His  social  talents  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  Prince  Regent,  who  appointed  him  to 


The  "  Re- 
jected Ad- 
dresses." 
James  and 
Horace 
Smith. 


Theodore 
Edward 
Hook,  1788- 


8o 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF. 


At  the  Mau- 
ritius. 


F.ditor  of 
Col  burn's 
"  New 
Monthly 
Magazine." 


the  lucrative  post  of  Accountant-General  of  Mauritius, 
a  curious  promotion  for  a  man  whose  one  merit  was 
that  he  was  such  good  company.  Hook,  however, 
went  to  the  Mauritius,  enjoyed  himself  greatly,  and, 
after  muddling  his  accounts  to  an  unheard-of  degree, 
found  himself  responsible  for  the  defalcations  of  his 
subordinates  to  the  amount  of  twelve  thousand 
pounds.  Though  he  was  cleared  of  any  complicity 
in  the  matter  on  his  return  to  England,  the  civil 
responsibility  still  lay  upon  him  ;  his  property  was 
seized  and  he  himself  imprisoned  for  two  years, 
though  it  was  finally  decided  that  the  Crown  claims 
should  not  be  put  into  force  during  his  life-time. 
Meanwhile  he  had  begun  to  use  his  pen,  and  a 
satire  upon  Queen  Caroline  earned  him  the  editor- 
ship of  the  "John  Bull,"  a  newspaper  set  on  foot  in 
1820,  especially  to  vilify  that  unhappy  woman.  It 
was  rather  dirty  work,  but  Hook  did  it  well,  and 
perhaps  served  the  community  on  the  whole.  Un- 
fortunately the  subject  of  his  sarcasm  died  in  1821, 
and  the  ' '  John  Bull's"  occupation  was  gone.  Between 
1826  and  1838  he  wrote  a  number  of  ephemeral 
novels,  of  which  "Gilbert  Gurney  "  was  perhaps  the 
most  successful.  In  1836  he  was  appointed  editor  of 
Colburn's  "New  Monthly  Magazine."  The  latter 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  an  unhealthy  atmos- 
phere ;  his  great  social  powers  were  debased  by  the 
position  he  had  sunk  to  as  the  parasite  of  great  pa- 
trons. It  was  the  fashion  of  his  contemporaries  to 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


81 


profess  to  regard  him  as  merely  Lord  Hertford's 
jester,  in  which  character  he  was  bitterly  satirised  by 
Thackeray  and  Disraeli  as  the  Wagg  of  "  Pendennis," 
and  the  Lucian  Gay  of  "Coningsby. "  Through  all 
this  period  of  professional  buffoonery,  the  weight  of 
that  immense,  unredeemable  debt  lay  on  his  mind ; 
domestic  sorrows  were  not  wanting  to  add  to  his 
troubles,  and  his  health  was  ruined  by  the  life  that 
he  led.  He  died  in  1841,  "done  up  in  purse,  in 
mind,  and  in  body,"  as  he  said  himself.  His  effects 
were  immediately  seized  by  the  Crown  in  partial 
satisfaction  of  his  liabilities,  and  his  family  could 
only  be  provided  for  by  a  subscription,  on  which 
the  names  of  his  great  patrons  were  conspicuous  by 
their  absence. 

Hook's  literary  friends  were  not  untrue  to  him  ; 
and  Lockhart  paid,  in  the  "Quarterly,"  a  powerful 
tribute  to  all  the  possibiUties  of  good  that  exist  in  him, 
and  all  the  better  qualities  he  had  shown.  One  of 
his  truest  friends,  who  afterwards  became  his  biogra- 
pher, was  the  famous  "Tomoflngoldsby."  Richard 
Harris  Barham  was  born  at  Canterbury  in  1788,  and 
educated  at  St.  Paul's  School  and  Brasenose  College. 
Ordained  in  1813,  he  had  held  various  livings  with 
credit,  and  was  the  incumbent  of  a  London  parish, 
and  priest  in  ordinary  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  when  he 
first  became  known  in  literature.  His  early  attempts, 
which  included  two  novels,  were  not  successful,  and, 
indeed,  Barham  would  probably  never  have  been 


His  distress 
and  death. 


Richard 
Harris  Bar- 
ham,  1788- 
1845. 


82 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  "  In- 
goldsby   Le- 
gends/' 


Walter  Sav- 
age Landor 
1775-1864. 


His  place  in 
literature. 


known  to  posterity  had  he  not  been  induced,  when 
his  old  schoolfellow,  Richard  Bentley,  started  his 
"Miscellany"  in  1837,  under  the  conduct  of  Charles 
Dickens,  to  contribute  some  jocular  pieces,  both  in 
verse  and  prose,  to  that  new  periodical.  These 
contributions  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  "  Ingoldsby 
Legends. "  They  were  received  with  general  approval, 
and  he  continued  them  during  several  years,  many 
appearing  in  "  Bentley's  Miscellany,"  and  some  in 
the  "New  Monthly,"  then  edited  by  Hook.  Their 
popularity  has  never  since  flagged,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  they  are  of  the  best  of  their  kind,  of 
whatever  value  that  kind  may  be.  Barham  died  in 
1845,  as  one  might  say  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  for 
he  continued  to  receive  ecclesiastical  preferment  after, 
as  well  as  before,  the  publication  of  the  "Ingoldsby 
Legends." 

Of  a  very  different  class  to  those  of  whom  we  have 
been  speaking  was  another  writer  who,  at  the  Queen's 
accession,  had  reached  the  very  zenith  of  his  literary 
power, — we  would  say  of  his  fame  also,  if  that  word 
could  be  fitly  applied  to  one  who,  while  he  excited 
unbounded  admiration  among  a  small  circle,  was 
never  clearly  discerned  by  the  outer  world.  The 
great  and  varied  talents  of  Walter  Savage  Landor 
must  entitle  him  to  a  high  place  in  literature,  but  it 
is  extremely  difficult  to  select  the  place  which  should 
be  allotted  to  him,  both  from  the  singularity  of  his 
genius,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  during  the  whole 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


sixty-five  years  of  his  indefatigable  literary  career, 
we  hardly  come  upon  one  work  of  his  which  may 
be  regarded  as  entering  into  competition  with  any 
other  production  of  the  day.  In  fact,  except  in  a 
few  cases  of  publications  devoted  to  some  emergency 
of  the  moment,  such  as  the  address  to  the  Italian 
people  on  "  Representative  Government,"  Landor 
wrote  rather  for  himself  than  for  any  audience.  That 
there  would  be  a  select  few  by  whom  his  writings 
would  be  ardently  welcomed,  Landor  hoped  and 
believed,  but  that  they  should  be  appreciated  by  the 
world  at  large  he  neither  expected  nor  desired.  The 
common  herd — that  is,  not  the  lower  classes,  dignified 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  with  the  title  of  "masses,"  but  the 
everyday  world,  Brown,  Jones  and  Robinson,  the 
passers-by  in  the  street  or  the  men  at  the  Club — were 
regarded  in  his  mind  with  indifference  or  disgust.  We 
find  ample  evidence  of  this  feeling  in  his  dialogues  ; 
Barrow  speaks  with  horror  and  contempt  of  popula- 
rity, and  Anaxagoras  bids  Aspasia  remember  that  he 
lived  and  died  apart  from  other  men.  It  is  a  narrow 
view  to  take  at  best,  and  a  very  mischievous  doctrine 
when  it  finds  disciples ;  for  every  generation  sees 
thousands  of  its  young  men  impelled  by  the  sheer 
delusion  that  they  are  not  as  others  to  make  much 
greater  fools  of  themselves  than  Nature  originally 
intended  them  to  do.  Nor  is  the  world  slow  to 
accept  a  defiance  of  this  kind.  With  a  few  excep- 
tions of  men  of  immense  genius,  he  who  neglects 


His  writings 
only  for  the 
cultured  few. 


A  mischie- 
vous doc- 
trine. 


TPIE  nCTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  birth 
and  educa- 
tion. 


His  pranks 
at  Rugby 
and  Oxford. 


the  approval  of  the  world  fails  to  command  its  atten- 
tion. So  it  is  that,  though  Landor  still  has,  and  per- 
haps more  now  than  formerly,  a  circle  of  admirers 
who  have  a  real  appreciation  of  his  genius — aug- 
mented perhaps  by  some  who  think  that  to  praise 
him  is  a  mark  of  superior  discernment — to  the  world 
at  large  he  remains  an  indistinct  figure,  and  those 
who  do  not  know  him  better  than  anybody  else, 
know  little  more  of  him  than  his  name. 

Walter  Savage  Landor  was  born  in  1775,  of  an  old 
Staffordshire  family,  well-descended  also  through  his 
mother,  one  of  the  Savages  of  Tachbrook  in  War- 
wickshire. He  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Trinity 
College,  Oxford,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by 
his  ability  and  scholarship  and  many  pranks,  harm- 
less enough  in  themselves — mere  indications  of  the 
bold,  masterful  spirit,  impatient  of  any  kind  of 
control  which  he  showed  throughout  life — but  which 
hardly  commended  themselves  to  those  in  authority. 
Few  old  Rugbeians  would  be  scandalised  at  the 
story  of  how,  being  detected  by  a  farmer  in  the  fasci- 
nating pursuit — always  popular  at  that  venerable 
seat  of  learning — of  water-poaching,  he  threw  his 
cast-net  over  his  captor  and  held  him  captive  in  his 
turn.  From  Oxford  he  was  sent  down  for  having  in 
a  frolic  fired  a  charge  of  shot  into  his  neighbour's 
windows.  Landor  was  then,  as  the  undergraduates 
whispered  to  each  other  with  a  kind  of  awe,  a  red 
republican  in  politics,  and  his  neighbour  was  a  Tory, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


and  was  entertaining  a  party  "  consisting  of  ser- 
vitors" (poor  scholars)  "and  other  raffs  of  every 
description,"  whom  this  leveller  regarded  with  the 
most  aristocratic  contempt.  On  leaving  the  Uni- 
versity, Landor  immediately  rushed  into  print  with 
his  first  volume  of  "  Poems,"  a  collection  of  English 
and  Latin  pieces  of  little  mark,  published  in  1795. 
In  the  same  year  also  appeared  a  satirical  "Moral 
Epistle,"  addressed  to  Lord  Stanhope  on  the  iniquities 
of  Pitt.  His  next  few  years  were  chiefly  occupied 
by  poetical  studies,  quarrels  with  his  family,  and 
flirtations,  an  amusement  to  which  in  his  early  days 
Landor  was  particularly  addicted.  In  1798  appeared 
his  epic  poem  of  "Gebir,"  which  attracted  no  atten- 
tion at  the  time  ;  indeed,  considering  the  trouble  that 
Landor  took  to  secure  obscurity  for  it,  publishing  it 
anonymously  in  pamphlet  form  through  a  Warwick 
bookseller,  it  is  surprising  that  it  was  ever  heard  of 
at  all.  Southey,  however,  praised  it  loudly  both 
among  his  friends  and  in  the  "Critical  Review,''  and 
Shelley,  Lamb,  and  De  Quincey  were  all  among  its 
admirers.  It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  production, 
the  lines  often  majestic,  the  language  and  diction 
always  refined  and  the  whole  structure  imposing,  but 
to  our  mind  somewhat  stiff  and  motionless,  and  im- 
parting rather  a  sense  of  fatigue  to  the  reader,  not 
from  dulness  but  severity.  Disgusted  at  the  failure 
of  "Gebir,"  Landor  made  an  experiment  in  journal- 
ism, on  the  staff  of  the  Foxite  "Courier,"  but  it  was 


His  first 
volume. 
"  Poems/ 
'795. 


"  Gebir, ' 
1798. 


86 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Chrysa- 
or." 


His  noto- 
rious re- 
publicanism. 


not  successful.  The  fact  was  he  could  not  be  trusted 
to  run  in  harness  ;  as  long  as  he  was  given  his  head, 
and  allowed  to  denounce  Pitt  to  his  heart's  content, 
all  was  well,  but  when  it  was  desired  to  guide  him 
steadily  along  a  particular  political  path,  he  became 
unmanageable.  In  1800 he  published  some  "Poems 
from  the  Arabic  and  Persian,"  and  in  1802  a  volume 
of  "Poetry  by  the  author  of  '  Gebir,' "  containing  the 
fine  poem  of  "Chrysaor,"  perhaps  the  greatest  of  his 
efforts  in  heroic  verse. 

On  his  father's  death  in  1805,  Landor  found  him- 
self master  of  a  considerable  fortune.  He  now 
settled  for  some  time  at  Bath,  where  he  went  much 
into  society, — where  his  great  natural  gifts  of  mind 
and  person  made  him  generally  welcome,  his  notori- 
ous republican  views  perhaps  adding  a  little  piquancy 
to  his  popularity, — bought  many  bad  pictures,  as 
was  his  wont,  and  otherwise  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a 
gentleman  of  property.  In  1808  a  sudden  start  of 
enthusiasm  sent  him  off  to  Spain — then  just  prepar- 
ing to  resist  the  unwarrantable  invasion  of  Napoleon 
— where  he  raised  and  equipped  a  thousand  volun- 
teers at  his  own  cost,  marched  them  to  the  front  and 
would  probably  have  done  good  service  had  he  not 
been  hampered  by  the  incapacity  of  the  Spanish 
commander,  Blake.  On  his  return  to  England,  he 
purchased  at  enormous  expense — selling  for  the 
purpose  his  Staffordshire  estate  and  his  mother's 
inheritance  of  Tachbrook — a  large  property  at 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


87 


Llanthony  in  South  Wales,  where  he  proposed  to 
spend  a  happy  and  useful  life  as  a  country  gentle- 
man, improving  the  condition  of  the  land  and  of  the 
people,  planting  trees — his  favourite  occupation  next 
to  buying  pictures — and  disseminating  virtue  and 
prosperity  generally  over  the  landscape.  To  increase 
his  happiness,  he  married  with  his  usual  impetuosity 
a  Miss  Thuillier,  daughter  of  a  Swiss  banker  at  Ban- 
bury,  a  pretty,  frivolous  girl  who  caught  his  fancy  at 
a  dance.  His  project  scarcely  turned  out  success- 
fully ;  in  two  or  three  years  he  had  managed  to 
quarrel  with  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  the  county,  his  brother  country 
gentlemen  who  sat  with  him  on  the  grand  jury,  and 
most  fiercely  of  all,  with  his  own  tenantry.  Nor 
were  his  domestic  relations  any  happier.  His  wife 
had  no  sympathy  with  his  tastes  and  disliked  the 
solitude  of  Llanthony.  Vexatious  lawsuits  were 
brought  against  him  by  his  tenants,  and  local  attor- 
neys set  upon  the  rash,  impetuous  gentleman  as 
their  natural  prey.  Some  of  these  he  satirised  in 
Latin  verses,  others  he  thrashed,  and  had  to  pay 
them  damages.  Utterly  disheartened  and  disgusted 
with  mankind,  almost  ruined  in  fortune,  and  sepa- 
rated even  from  his  wife,  he  retired  in  1814  to  France 
to  begin  a  long  residence  abroad. 

In  1812  he  had  published  his  tragedy  of  "Count 
Julian,"  a  work  marked  by  most  of  the  same  qualities 
and  defects  which  are  found  in  "Gebir."  The  style 


His  mar- 
riage. 


His  unhappy 
life. 


Count 
Julian," 


88 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Commentary 
on  Memoirs 
of  Mr.  Fox. 


is  more  mature,  and  the  versification  perhaps  more 
agreeable,  but  the  characters,  though  they  now 
speak  for  themselves,  are  stiffer  than  before ;  they 
seem  fitter  for  the  Greek  stage,  to  attain  artificial 
stature  on  a  buskin,  and  intone  through  the  porte  voix 
of  a  tragic  mask  the  majestic  lines  assigned  to  them. 
There  are,  however,  some  beautiful  bits  of  description, 
inspired  by  Landor's  own  Spanish  experiences,  from 
one  of  which  we  venture  to  quote  a  few  lines  : — 

"  If  strength  be  wanted  for  security, 
Mountains  the  guard,  forbidding  all  approach 
With  iron-pointed  and  uplifted  gates, 
Thou  wilt  be  welcome,  too,  in  Aguilar, 
Impenetrable,  marble-turreted, 
Surveying  from  aloft  the  limpid  ford, 
The  massive  fane,  the  sylvan  avenue ; 
Whose  hospitality  I  proved  myself, 
A  willing  leader  in  no  impious  war 
When  fame  and  freedom  urged  me  ;  or  mayest  dwell 
In  Reynosa's  dry  and  thriftless  dale 
Unharvested  beneath  October  moons, 
Among  those  frank  and  cordial  villagers." 

In  the  same  year  appeared  his  singular  "Com- 
mentary on  Memoirs  of  Mr.  Fox,"  and  the  next  year 
his  "Idyllia"  and  other  Latin  poems  privately 
printed  at  Oxford,  the  profits,  if  any,  to  go  to  the 
suffering  poor  of  Leipzig.  It  was  a  favourite  idea  of 
Landor's  to  devote  the  profits  of  his  publications  to 
some  charitable  purpose ;  unfortunately  there  never 
were  any  profits. 

From   France,    where  his   wife   and  his    brother 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


89 


Robert  joined  him  after  a  while,  Landor  wandered 
on  into  Italy,  to  Como  first  and  then  to  Pisa,  and 
finally  to  Florence,  where  he  remained  for  a  great 
part  of  his  life.  In  1820  appeared  his  "Idyllia 
Heroica,"  a  revised  and  enlarged  edition  of  the 
"Idyllia"  mentioned  above,  most  of  which  he  after- 
wards turned  into  English  and  republished  in  his 
"  Hellenics  "  many  years  later.  With  his  residence 
in  Florence  began  in  1821  that  series  of  "  Imaginary 
Conversations "  which  is  generally  recognised  as 
Lander's  greatest  title  to  fame.  His  extensive  read- 
ing and  his  powerful  imagination  combined  to  enable 
him  to  put  his  characters  upon  the  scene  with 
wonderful  vividness  and  power.  These  are  no 
longer  the  carved  stone  figures  of  his  poems,  but 
living  and  breathing  men  and  women,  perhaps  a 
little  too  conscious  that  they  are  speaking  before  an 
audience,  and  therefore  inclined  to  be  sententious, 
but  full  of  life  and  individuality.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
also  that,  except  in  a  few  cases, — the  dialogue 
between  Home  Tooke  and  Johnson  is  a  happy 
exception, — they  will  not  argue;  one  character  says 
his  say,  and  then  another,  but  there  is  rarely  a 
marked  continuity  of  thought  connecting  the  various 
speeches  of  one  man.  The  prose  in  which  they 
speak  is  remarkable  for  its  refinement,  and  perhaps 
almost  too  classical  purity.  It  is  hard  to  select  any 
that  are  worthy  of  preference,  as  each  reader  will 
naturally  have  his  own  favourites ;  we  own,  how- 


"  Idyllia 
Heroica,' 
1820. 


"Hellenics," 
1847. 

"  Imaginary 
Conversa- 
tions," 1824, 


9o 


Qualities  of 
his  work. 


"  The  Pen- 

tameron," 

1837- 


ever,  to  thinking  that  Landor  has  been  most  success- 
ful with  the  dialogues  of  antiquity,  perhaps  because 
the  characters  in  these  lend  themselves  most  easily 
to  the  manner  of  treatment.  The  discussion  of 
Demosthenes  by  his  rival  ^schines  and  Phocion, 
Diogenes  bantering  Plato,  Cicero  and  his  brother 
Quintus  moralising  on  life  and  death  and  immortality, 
seem  to  us  to  be  among  the  very  finest  specimens. 
We  should  not  give  so  high  a  place  to  Lander's  own 
favourite,  the  scene  between  Epicurus  and  his  girl- 
pupils,  Leontion  and  Ternissa,  and  we  own  to  being 
fatigued  by  the  letters  of  Pericles  and  Aspasia  and 
their  friends,  which  made  their  appearance  after  the 
"Conversations"  in  a  separate  work  in  two  volumes ; 
but  we  certainly  think  that  the  classical  atmosphere 
is  that  best  conveyed  by  so  stately  a  vehicle  as 
Lander's  prose.  Yet  he  has  hardly  ever  excelled  the 
dialogue  of  Leofric  and  Godiva,  and  a  great  measure 
of  praise  is  due  to  the  scene  where  General  Kleber 
opens  the  locket  of  the  murdered  English  officer,  and 
to  many  other  of  the  more  modern  scenes.  Again 
the  "Pentameron,"  a  series  of  dialogues  between 
Petrarch  and  Boccaccio,  contains  much  fine  writing 
and  some  exquisite  criticism,  though  the  latter  is  at 
times  too  minute,  and  the  two  great  Italians  show 
less  respect  for  their  mighty  precursor  than  is  either 
natural  in  them  or  judicious  in  Landor.  In  each  and 
all  of  his  prose  writings  we  find  the  same  choice 
language  and  classical  diction,  and  in  more  varying 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


91 


degree  the  same  lofty  thoughts.  There  is  one  pas- 
sage which  recurs  to  us  as  we  write,  from  one  of  his 
minor  works,  which  is  a  striking  example  of  a  noble 
thought  expressed  in  worthy  language.  He  is  speak- 
ing of  image  worship  among  the  Irish. 


"  They  have  been,  and  ever  must  be,  idolaters.  Do  not  let 
their  good  clergy  be  angry  with  me  for  the  expression.  I  mean 
no  harm  by  it.  Firmly  do  I  believe  that  the  Almighty  is  too 
merciful  and  too  wise  for  anger  or  displeasure  at  it.  Would  one 
of  these  kind-hearted  priests  be  surly  at  being  taken  for  another  ? 
Certainly  not,  and  quite  as  certainly  the  Maker  of  mankind  will 
graciously  accept  their  gratitude,  whether  the  offering  be  laid  in 
the  temple  or  the  turf,  whether  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  heart, 
before  a  beautiful  image,  expressing  love  and  benignity,  or  with- 
out any  visible  object,  in  the  bleak  and  desert  air." 

Many  will  feel  with  the  writer  of  this  beautiful 
passage,  who  would  hardly  have  dared  to  have  put 
their  feeling  into  words.  But  to  Landor  hesitation 
in  expressing  his  opinion  was  unknown  ;  strength 
and  fearlessness  were  the  principal  characteristics  of 
his  nature,  and  the  most  strongly  reflected  in  his 
writings.  He  answered,  indeed,  in  mind  as  in 
body,  to  the  description  given  by  a  contemporary  of 
James  I.  of  Scotland,  "a  man  right  manly  strong." 
And  if  we  say  that  his  open  defiance  of  the  world's 
opinion  has  caused  his  works  to  be  merely  laid  aside 
by  the  great  multitude  of  readers,  we  do  not  deny 
his  power  to  compel  the  admiration  of  the  critic  who 
does  venture  upon  them. 

The  first  series  of  the  "  Imaginary  Conversations  " 


His  lofty  and 
classical  dic- 


His  charac- 
teristics, 
strength  and 
fearlessness. 


92 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Pericles 
and  Aspa- 
sia,"  1836. 


appeared  in  1824,  with  a  supplementary  volume 
four  years  later,  the  second  in  1829  ;  other  dialogues 
were  added  at  later  periods.  The  "  Citation  and 
Examination  of  William  Shakespeare,"  a  work  of 
imagination  containing  some  passages  of  genuine 
humour,  which  was  not  usually  Landor's  strong 
point,  in  1834,  "Pericles  and  Aspasia,"  two  years 
later,  and  the  "Pentameron,"  in  1837.  These,  how- 
ever, form  his  principal  prose  works.  We  have  been, 
the  reader  may  think,  a  long  time  in  arriving  at  this 
date,  with  which  we  ought  to  have  begun,  but  Lan- 
dor's life  stretches  almost  as  far  beyond  as  before 
the  proper  beginning  of  this  record.  In  later  life  he 
devoted  himself  more  to  poetry  again.  In  1839  he 
commenced  his  dramatic  trilogy  on  the  story  of 
Queen  Joan  of  Naples,  the  last  play  of  the  series, 
"Fra  Rupert,"  appearing  in  1841.  In  1846  he 
formed  a  collected  edition  of  his  works,  in  which 
appeared  for  the  first  time  his  "  Hellenics,"  a  series 
of  poems  on  classical  subjects  which,  in  our  opinion, 
have  received  much  higher  praise  than  was  their 
due.  In  1853  appeared  a  new  batch  of  "  Conversa- 
tions," under  the  title  of  "The  Last  Fruit  off  an  Old 
Tree. "  Would  that  it  had  indeed  been  his  last  work  ! 
for  an  injudicious  publication  entitled  "Dry  Sticks," 
five  years  later,  involved  him  in  a  libel  suit,  the 
consequences  of  which  threw  a  shadow  over  his 
later  life.  Many  of  his  smaller  poems  were  written 
in  his  latter  years.  Opinions  differ  greatly  as  to  the 


The  trilogy, 
1839-1840. 


"  Fra  Ru- 
pert," 1841. 


"  The  Last 
Fruit  off  an 
Old  Tree," 
"853. 

"Dry 

Sticks," 

1858. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


93 


quality  of  Lander's  minor  verse,  in  which  the 
standard  of  excellence  reached  by  some  of  his  work 
appears  to  be  but  imperfectly  maintained.  We  have 
found  none  sweeter  among  his  shorter  poems  than 
one  of  an  earlier  period,  the  consolation  addressed 
to  Mary  Lamb  on  her  brother's  death,  which  we  will 
venture  to  quote. 

"  Comfort  thee,  oh  thou  mourner,  yet  awhile  ! 

Again  shall  Ella's  smile 

Refresh  thy  heart,  where  heart  can  ache  no  more  ; 
What  is  it  we  deplore  ? 

He  leaves  behind  him,  freed  from  griefs  and  fears, 

Far  worthier  things  than  tears, 
The  love  of  friends  without  a  single  foe ; 

Unequalled  lot  below ! 
His  gentle  soul,  his  genius,  these  are  thine ; 

For  these  dost  thou  repine  ? 
He  may  have  left  the  lowly  walks  of  men, 

Left  them  he  has ;  what  then  ? 

Are  not  his  footsteps  followed  by  the  eyes 

Of  all  the  good  and  wise  ? 
Tho'  the  warm  day  is  over,  yet  they  seek 

Upon  the  lofty  peak 

Of  his  pure  mind  the  roseate  light  that  glows 
O'er  death's  perennial  snows. 

Behold  him !  from  the  regions  of  the  blest 

He  speaks ;  he  bids  thee  rest." 

Lander's  last  production,  the  "Heroic  Idylls,"  ap- 
peared in  1863,  sixty-eight  years  after  the  publication 
of  the  first  "Poems  of  Walter  Savage  Landor  ."  He 


Quality  of 
his  minor 
verse. 


"  Heroic 

Idylls," 

1863. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Swinburne. 


Landor  and 
Hunt  con- 
trasted. 


James  Hen- 
ry Leigh 
Hunt,   1784- 
1859. 


died  in  1864  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine.  Some  months 
before  his  death  the  old  man,  who,  in  the  days  when 
he  was  a  clever  schoolboy  may  have  heard  with 
interest  of  the  publication  of  Cowper's  "Translations 
from  Homer,"  awoke  from  the  lethargy  that  was 
creeping  over  him  to  welcome  a  visit  from  the  new- 
est young  English  poet,  Mr.  Swinburne. 

The  writer,  whose  name,  mainly  for  chronological 
reasons,  we  have  coupled  with  Lander's,  was  of  a 
very  different  strain.  Strength,  as  we  have  said,  of 
body  and  mind,  of  will  and  character,  was  the 
prominent  attribute  of  Landor ;  while  it  will  not  be 
too  harsh  to  say  that  Leigh  Hunt's  character  was 
chiefly  influenced  by  feebleness  of  mind  and  body. 
His  faults  and  his  good  qualities  alike  were  those  of 
a  weaker  organisation ;  the  petty  meannesses,  the 
enduring  spite,  the  unwillingness  or  incapacity  to 
take  a  high  view  even  of  friends  and  benefactors,  as 
much  as  the  light-heartedness  and  frivolity,  the 
almost  feminine  grace  and  charm,  belong  alike  to 
one  who  looked  upon  his  stronger  fellow-creatures 
as  in  some  sort  his  natural  protectors,  endued  with 
a  special  mission  to  watch  over  his  delicate  existence, 
and  deserving  of  casual  thanks  when  they  did  what 
was  but  their  manifest  duty,  and  of  bitter  and 
spiteful  satire  when  they  attended  to  their  own 
affairs  instead.  James  Henry  Leigh  Hunt  was 
born  at  Southgate  in  1784,  of  a  West  Indian  family, 
his  father  being  a  loyal  American  lawyer  who  had 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


95 


come  over  to  England  when  the  Rebellion  broke 
out,  and  who  became  a  preacher  at  a  chapel  in 
Paddington,  and  afterwards  tutor  to  the  Hon.  James 
Henry  Leigh,  from  whom  his  son  got  his  many 
names.  Leigh  Hunt  was  educated  at  Christ's 
Hospital,  the  school  of  Coleridge  and  Charles  Lamb, 
and  began  at  an  early  age  to  write  verse,  a  volume 
of  which,  called  "Juvenilia,"  his  father  had  pub- 
lished by  subscription,  when  the  poet  was  barely 
seventeen.  They  had  some  success,  and  the  young 
author  continued  to  scribble  industriously,  while 
pretending  to  work  at  law,  and  having  shortly  after 
obtained  a  clerkship  in  the  War  Office,  threw  that 
up  also  to  pursue  his  natural  trade  of  literature,  a 
taste  shared  by  his  brother  John,  with  whom  he 
founded  one  of  the  first  of  literary  papers,  the 
"Examiner."  This  daring  and  clever  journal,  how- 
ever, soon  got  into  hot-water.  An  article  on  military 
floggings  brought  the  Hunts  the  advertisement  of  a 
prosecution,  from  which  they  came  off  with  flying 
colours,  owing  to  Brougham's  advocacy.  In  1812, 
an  adulatory  article  in  the  "  Morning  Post,"  with 
regard  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  stirred  the  bile  of  the 
waspish  little  "Examiner,"  which  took  upon  itself 
to  describe  to  its  readers  what  "this  delightful, 
blissful,  wise,  honourable,  virtuous,  true  and  im- 
mortal prince,"  was  in  reality.  The  statements 
might  be  powerful  and  potently  believed  by  all  men, 
but  the  government  naturally  held  it  not  honesty, 


"Juvenilia," 
1802. 


"The  Exa- 

miner," 

1803. 


96 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Descent  < 
Liberty." 


"  Story  of 
Rimini." 


that  it  should  be  thus  set  down  ;  and  the  Hunts  were 
prosecuted  for  libel  and  sentenced  to  two  years 
imprisonment  apiece  and  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
pounds. 

Leigh  Hunt  was  in  nowise  dismayed  by  his  sen- 
tence ;  he  was  well  treated  and  had  a  pleasant  room 
where  his  wife  and  his  friends  were  allowed  to  visit 
him,  and  he  continued  to  edit  the  "Examiner"  just 
as  well  in  prison  as  out  of  it.  In  1815  he  published 
his  "Descent  of  Liberty,"  a  poem  on  Napoleon's 
downfall,  and  also  reprinted  the  "Feast  of  Poets," 
contributed  some  years  before  to  the  "Reflector"  an 
abortive  magazine  started  in  iSioby  his  speculative 
brother  John.  In  1816  followed  one  of  his  daintiest 
and  most  graceful  productions,  his  poem  on  the 
story  of  Paolo  and  Francesca,  called  the  "Story  of 
Rimini."  He  was  at  this  time  enjoying  the  friend- 
ship of  Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  and  Moore,  and  many 
other  leading  writers  of  most  of  whom  he  found 
some  opportunity  to  say  an  evil  word  afterwards. 
Meanwhile  he  defended  them  in  the  "Examiner," 
and  when  "Blackwood"  orthe  "Quarterly"  attacked 
himself,  was  convinced  that  it  must  really  be  one  of 
his  friends  who  was  being  struck  at  through  him. 
He  certainly  did  not  gain  much  by  their  friendship, 
though  Shelley  with  his  usual  generosity  lent  him  a 
a  large  sum  of  money  to  tide  over  his  difficulties  at 
one  period.  In  1821  he  was  induced  to  join  Byron 
and  Shelley  in  Italy,  to  settle  about  starting  a  new 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


97 


quarterly  to  be  called  the  ' '  Liberal. "  The  catastrophe 
which  was  the  end  of  Shelley's  life  happened  almost 
as  soon  as  he  had  reached  Pisa,  and  Byron's  interest 
in  the  venture  never  seems  to  have  been  a  keen  one. 
The  magazine  appeared,  however,  the  first  number 
containing  Byron's  "Vision  of  Judgment,"  but  in 
spite  of  all  Hunt's  exertions  to  keep  it  going,  did  not 
survive  beyond  the  fourth  issue.  Byron  and  Hunt 
were  equally  bitter  in  attributing  to  each  other  the 
blame  of  this  fiasco,  each  trying  to  saddle  the  other 
with  the  original  responsibility  of  the  undertaking. 

Hunt  also  started  various  other  periodicals  at 
various  times,  the  "Indicator,"  from  1819  to  1821; 
the  "Tatler,"  1830-32,  and  the  "London  Journal," 
1834-35.  In  1840  he  produced  a  five  act  play  called 
"A  Legend  of  Florence,"  at  Co  vent  Garden  Theatre, 
where  it  had  a  great  success,  among  its  warmest 
admirers  being  her  Majesty,  who  insisted  on  having 
it  specially  performed  at  Windsor.  He  was  at  the 
same  time  writing  biographies  ofWycherley,  Con- 
greve  and  other  dramatists,  to  serve  as  introductions 
to  editions  of  their  works  published  by  Moxon,  a 
piece  of  work  which  he  did  exceedingly  well.  The 
remaining  years  of  his  life  were  occupied  in  various 
kinds  of  book-making,  selections  from  English  and 
foreign  literature  and  the  like,  all  charmingly  exe- 
cuted but  of  no  particular  importance.  Among  the 
best  known  are  the  "Jar  of  Honey  from  Mount 
Hybla,"  a  work  on  Sicilian  history  poetry  and 

7 


Attempt 
to  start  the 
"  Liberal." 


"  A  Legend 
of  Florence," 
1840. 


"  A  Jar  of 
Honey  from 
Mount 
Hybla." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Miscellane- 
ous Works. 


Hia  place  in 
literature. 


His  poetry 
graceful  and 
charming 
but  lacking 
depth. 


legends  published  in  1848,  and  a  series  of  sketches 
of  London,  called  "The  Town  ;  its  memorable  Char- 
acters and  Events"  (1848),  afterwards  supplemented 
by  "The  Old  Court  Suburb,  or  Memorials  of  Ken- 
sington" (1855).  He  died  in  1859  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five. 

It  is  not  easy  to  decide  what  place  in  literature 
should  be  assigned  to  Leigh  Hunt,  but  we  certainly 
think  that  he  has  generally  been  ranked  much  too 
high,  owing  in  great  part  to  the  factitious  importance 
attaching  to  him  as  the  friend  of  Byron  and  Shelley. 
The  great  bulk  of  his  work  is  merely  that  of  an  agree- 
able litterateur,  possessed  of  much  fluency  and  ease 
in  writing  and  a  peculiarly  graceful  turn  of  expres- 
sion. Of  his  poems,  the  "Story  of  Rimini,"  which 
we  should  rank  among  the  highest,  is  full  of  charm- 
ing poetical  conceits,  such  as  the  picture  of  that 
scene  where 


"April  with  his  white  hands  wet  with  flowers, 
Dazzles  the  bridesmaids  looking  from  the  towers  ; 
Green  vineyards  and  fair  orchards,  far  and  near, 
Glitter  with  drops  ;  and  heaven  is  sapphire  clear, 
And  the  lark  rings  it,  and  the  pine-trees  glow, 
And  odours  from  the  citrons  come  and  go  : 
And  all  the  landscape—  earth  and  sky  and  sea — 
Breathes  like  a  bright-eyed  face  that  laughs  out  openly." 


But  the  whole  composition  lacks  depth  ;  it  is  charm* 
ing  upon  the  surface,  but  there  is  nothing  to  be  found 
below.  This  quality  of  shallowness  which  we  regard 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


99 


as  attaching  more  or  less  to  almost  all  of  Leigh 
Hunt's  work,  is  naturally  most  observable  in  his 
poetry ;  yet  that  there  was  something  deeper  and 
higher  in  the  strange  little  man,  with  his  half-childish, 
half-womanish  charm,  is  shown  by  one  or  two  gems 
which  would  make  up  for  a  great  deal  of  lightness 
and  superficiality.  The  well-known  verses  to  his 
child  during  a  sickness,  are  sufficient  evidence  of 
what  he  could  write  when  deeply  moved,  but  a 
more  perfect  specimen  of  the  true,  poetic  sympathy 
with  noble  thoughts  not  necessarily  brought  home 
to  him  by  actual  experience,  is  given  in  the  little 
poem  ot  ' '  Abou  Ben  Adhem, "  which  we  quote,  well- 
known  as  it  is,  to  demonstrate  the  potential  great- 
ness of  a  man  who,  in  our  judgment,  achieved  but 
little. 

"  Abou  Ben  Adhem — may  his  tribe  increase — 
Awoke  one  night  from  a  deep  dream  of  peace, 
And  saw  within  the  moonlight  in  his  room, 
Making  it  rich  and  like  a  lily  in  bloom, 
An  angel  writing  in  a  book  of  gold. 
Exceeding  peace  had  made  Ben  Adhem  bold, 
And  to  the  presence  in  the  room  he  said, 
'  What  writest  thou  ? '     The  vision  raised  his  head 
And  with  a  voice  made  of  all  sweet  accord, 
Answered,  '  The  names  of  those  who  love  the  Lord.' 
'  And  is  mine  one  ? '  said  Adhem.    '  Nay,  not  so,' 
Replied  the  angel.     Abou  spoke  more  low, 
But  cheerly  still,  and  said,  '  I  pray  thee  then 
Write  me  as  one  who  loves  his  fellow-men.' 
The  angel  wrote  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
He  came  again  with  a  great  awakening  light 
And  showed  the  names  whom  love  of  God  had  blest, 
And  lo  !  Ben  Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest." 


True  poetic 
sympathy. 


"  Abou  Ben 
Adhem." 


IOO 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  close 
friendship 
with  Carlyle. 


Before  these  noble  lines  the  voice  of  criticism  is 
silent.  This  is  not  the  poetry  that  a  man  can  make 
out  of  his  own  head,  but  that  which  can  only  come 
from  the  true  spirit  working  within  him.  Doubtless 
there  was  much  good  in  Leigh  Hunt ;  he  was  the 
close  friend  of  Carlyle  and  of  many  others  whose 
friendship  was  in  itself  a  mark  of  honour  and  of 
merit.  His  life  was  in  many  ways  a  hard  one ;  debt, 
deception  and  disappointment  were  the  companions 
of  many  a  time  when  he  kept  a  contented  smiling 
face  to  the  outer  world.  His  faults,  at  least,  he 
made  no  attempt  to  hide,  and  the  love  that  he  gained 
was  in  spite  of  the  knowledge  of  them.  We  may 
hope  that  his  name  too  may  be  found  on  the  angel's 
list,  for  surely  no  unloving  heart  could  have  given 
birth  to  so  lofty  a  conception. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


lot 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THOMAS  CARLYLE,   JOHN  STUART  MILL,   AND  OTHER 
ESSAYISTS    AND    CRITICS. 

IN  the  midst  of  all  these  interesting  and  important 
but  lesser  men  there  now  rose  up  somewhat  suddenly 
into  knowledge  and  a  curiously  modified  and  condi- 
tional fame  the  greatest  writer  of  his  generation — 
the  ever-memorable,  much  misunderstood,  mightily- 
misrepresented,  but  always  noble  and  picturesque 
figure  of  Thomas  Carlyle.  He  was  born  in  1794,  in 
the  village  of  Ecclefechan,  among  the  green  hills  and 
many  traditions  of  Annandale,  of  an  upright  and  re- 
markable family  of  peasant  farmers,  as  worthy  a  stock 
as  any  primitive  country  has  ever  produced,  with  an 
intelligence  and  intellectual  capacity  much  beyond 
any  expectation,  combined  with  those  strong  features 
of  character  both  for  good  and  evil  which  were 
native  to  the  soil.  They  were  an  upright,  conscien- 
tious, God-fearing  race,  somewhat  stern  in  religion, 
with  a  strong  strain  of  the  Old  Testament  in  their 
piety ;  full  of  an  exclusiveness  more  tremendous 
than  any  instinct  of  aristocracy,  and  a  curious  sus- 
piciousness  of  other  races  and  developments  of  men, 
from  which  their  great  descendant  never,  by  any 
amount  of  experience  or  adulation  from  the  world, 


Thomas 
Carlyle, 
1794-1881 


Character- 
istics of  Car- 
lyle's  fam- 


102 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  educa- 
tion. 


His  early 
life,  and 
university 
career. 


could  shake  himself  free ;  people  who  loved  each 
other  and  clung1  to  every  relationship  (though  not 
without  much  freedom  of  caustic  criticism  among 
themselves)  with  a  tenacity  and  force  unsurpassed  ; 
but  were  always  dubious  of  other  people,  never  cer- 
tain of  the  good  meaning  of  those  outside  their  circle, 
though  very  confident  of  their  own.  These  peculiar- 
ities, which  were  common  to  their  country  and  kind, 
have  rarely  been  so  strongly  manifested  to  the  world 
as  by  this  rural  family,  which  had  come  to  such 
unusual  notice  and  comment  in  the  world,  chiefly, 
as  is  unfortunate,  by  means  of  interpreters  unac- 
quainted by  nature  with  the  wide  extension  and 
characteristic  meaning  of  their  qualities.  Carlyle 
was  educated,  as  was  his  friend  and  contemporary, 
Edward  Irving,  at  the  Annan  grammar  school, 
where  he  himself  in  a  very  brilliant  passage  recorded 
long  after  the  return  of  that  wonderful  boy  in  the 
midst  of  his  university  career,  dazzling  and  inspiring 
other  schoolboys  of  Annan.  The  little  town  and 
obscure  school  were  thus  made  visible,  as  it  were,  in 
a  blaze  of  light  to  the  bigger  world  of  Britain  and  all 
English-speaking  people,  as  the  cradle  of  two  men 
destined  to  affect  in  the  strongest  degree  the  life  and 
literature  of  the  Empire. 

Carlyle  proceeded  from  thence  to  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  where  his  chief  distinction  seems  to  have 
been  in  mathematics.  He  was  without  influence, 
friends,  or  any  desire  to  make  them,  a  rugged,  some- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


103 


what  repellant,  defiant  young  man,  fearing,  as  the 
very  devil  himself,  any  attempt  at  patronage,  yet 
entertaining  from  the  beginning  a  determination  to 
make  himself  famous.  His  youth,  though  poor 
enough  and  accompanied  by  many  struggles  of  the 
mind  and  thoughts,  as  well  as  a  poverty,  which  to 
many  might  have  been  abject,  but  to  him  was  but 
the  spare  and  self-denying  ordinary  of  life,  was  not 
without  success.  When  he  left  college  he  became  a 
schoolmaster  for  a  time,  first  at  Annan,  then  at  Kirk- 
caldy,  and  was  always  able  to  maintain  himself,  the 
first  essential  to  a  young  man  in  his  position  ;  nor 
was  he  ever  without  friends.  In  the  year  1822,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-seven,  he  entered  the  Buller  family 
as  tutor,  under  circumstances  so  unlike  those  of  the 
usual  tutor  of  literature,  that  we  can  only  wonder  at 
his  conquest  of  all  the  supposed  disagreeables  of  a 
dependent  life.  He  obtained  this  exceptional  position 
by  the  recommendation  of  Edward  Irving  and  by  the 
remarkable  penetration  and  insight  of  a  family  which 
he  learned  to  like  almost  in  spite  of  himself,  and  in 
which  he  became  acquainted,  as  few  Scotch  student- 
tutors  do,  with  the  life  of  a  class  which  may  be  called 
the  highest  in  English  society.  And  though  his  suc- 
cess was  more  slow  than  his  friend's  proud  hopes  had 
expected,  he  had  attained,  before  even  he  had  reached 
the  height  of  life,  to  a  reputation  which  went  on  in- 
creasing, notwithstanding  that  he  never  could  be 
anything  but  caviare  to  the  general,  until  he  reached 


His  strug- 
gles at  col- 
eee. 


Tutor  of  the 
Buller  fam- 

fly. 


Friendship 
with  Ed- 
ward Irving 


104 


THE   VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  h;gh- 

stru:ig 
nature. 


The  false 
view  of  his 
family  life. 


the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame  and  became  the  un- 
doubted first  of  writers  in  his  age.  His  struggles  with 
his  health,  with  his  temper,  with  the  exclusive  and 
high-strung  nature  which  was  the  great  drawback 
of  his  genius,  were  sometimes  tragical,  often  whim- 
sical, sometimes  laughable.  They  were  taken,  as 
such  struggles  had  best  be,  by  a  wife  extraordinarily 
suited  to  him,  with  the  mingled  sympathy,  impatience, 
mockery,  respect,  and  banter  which  were  natural  to 
her  keen  wit  and  thorough  understanding  of  the  man 
with  whom  she  had  to  deal ;  but  have  been  taken  by 
his  biographers  and  commentators  au  grand  serieux, 
as  if  everyone  of  his  half-conscious  exaggerations 
were  real,  and  the  life,  which  was  on  the  whole  a 
noble  and  noteworthy  life,  full  of  many  enjoyments 
and  successes,  had  been  one  of  almost  uninterrupted 
gloom  and  wretchedness. 

This  false  view  of  two  great  and  remarkable  persons 
— for  Mrs.  Carlyle,  though  in  many  respects  volunta- 
rily effacing  herself  in  her  husband's  greater  light,  was 
as  unusual  an  apparition  in  the  routine  of  ordinary 
life,  and  almost  as  original  in  character  and  genius 
as  himself — is  too  strongly  rooted  in  the  mind  of  the 
general  reader  ever  to  be  altered  now,  and  every 
differing  estimate  of  their  being  must  come  in  as  a 
protest,  a  remonstrance  against  a  settled  conclusion. 
We  will  not,  therefore,  lose  time  in  the  attempt  to 
convey  a  different  opinion  to  the  public  mind.  Car- 
lyle enjoyed  for  many  years  the  homage  of  his 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


I05 


country,  universally  acknowledged  as  one  of  its 
greatest  men,  loved  by  many,  and  proving  to  many 
the  possession  of  a  heart  full  of  kindness  and  gener- 
osity, as  well  as  a  great  and  extraordinary  genius.  No 
man  ever  left  this  world  more  full  of  honours,  more 
completely  possessed  of  the  respect,  veneration  and 
proud  recognition  of  his  countrymen.  But  within  a 
year  or  two  after  his  death,  his  reputation  had  been 
torn  to  rags  and  thrown  to  the  dogs,  at  the  mercy  of 
every  dirty  cur  in  England.  Not  that  the  records  of 
his  life  had  revealed  one  evil  action,  one  act  of  treach- 
ery, dishonesty,  or  bad  faith,  but  solely  because  of 
the  artificial  sense  given  to  his  most  private  sentiments 
and  domesticities — the  betrayal  of  those  half-ravings 
of  stormy  and  remorseful  grief,  in  which  the  gentlest 
spirit  sympathises  with  the  most  violent,  in  self- 
reproach  for  its  behaviour  towards  the  lost  compan  ions 
of  life — a  mental  malady  as  well  known  and  universal 
as  grief  itself.  Such  an  overturn  of  popular  sentiment 
has  never,  we  believe,  been  known  in  literary  his- 
tory ;  nor,  in  our  own  opinion,  anyone  so  undeserved. 
The  faithful  and  tender  companion  of  Carlyle's  life, 
she  who  had  valiantly  stood  between  him  and  every 
annoyance  for  more  than  forty  years  of  union,  broken 
by  nothing  but  an  occasional  strain  of  feeling,  the 
little  resentments  and  contrarieties  of  life  which  arise 
sometimes  between  the  mildest  of  pairs,  and  could 
not  but  exist  between  two  so  individual,  so  original, 
so  independent,  keen-witted  and  outspoken — this 


Disastrous 
effects  of  th« 
publication 
of  the 
"  Diary." 


io6 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Translation 
of  Goethe's 
"  Wilhelm 
Meister," 
1824. 


"  Life  of 
Schiller," 


most  loyal  wife  and  trusted  friend  was  disinterred 
out  of  her  grave  to  bear  witness  against  him.  We 
repeat  that  such  an  act  of  iconoclasm,  of  personal 
unfaith,  and,  not  least,  of  misunderstanding,  was 
never  done  before. 

Carlyle's  literary  life  began  by  his  translation  of 
Goethe's  "Wilhelm  Meister,"  and  by  his  life  of  Schil- 
ler ; — the  first  a  translation  of  a  remarkable  kind, 
with  a  flavour  of  German  still  in  the  English,  but  not 
of  that  ignorant  sort  which  stamps  imperfect  know- 
ledge, rather  the  characteristic  tone  which  keeps  the 
reader  in  pleasant  remembrance  of  the  spirit  of  a 
foreign  tongue ; — the  latter  an  admirable  biography, 
full  of  insight  and  knowledge.  The  "Schiller," 
which  was  intended  to  be  one  of  a  series  of  "Por- 
traits of  Men  of  Genius  and  Character,"  was  first 
published  in  the  "London  Magazine."  "Meister," 
for  which  he  received  a  good  price — /"i8o  for  the 
first  edition,  the  translation  of  a  book  as  yet  un- 
known to  the  English  public  by  a  young  man  totally 
unknown  to  it,  was  certainly  excellent  pay — was 
published  in  the  beginning  of  1824;  the  "Schiller" 
in  the  end  of  that  year.  Both  were  favourably  if  not 
enthusiastically  received.  In  one  instance,  indeed, 
and  that  a  most  gratifying  one,  the  latter  word 
might  almost  be  applied  to  Goethe's  appreciation  of 
both  books,  modestly  sent  to  him  by  the  as  yet  un- 
known writer,  of  whom  he  prophesied  that  he  should 
yet  hear  much. 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


107 


Carlyle  left  the  Bullers  in  the  year  1824  in  order  to 
devote  himself  to  literary  work,  and  in  1826,  after  a 
somewhat  stormy  courtship,  married  Jane  Welsh, 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  Welsh,  of  Haddington,  a  popular 
and  successful  country  practitioner,  perhaps  the  only 
woman  in  the  world  who  rightly  understood  and 
could  fully  have  mated  him.  Detached  from  intoler- 
able commentaries  and  explanations — the  interpreta- 
tions by  a  mind  wholly  formed  and  trained  in 
another  milieu  and  imbued  with  all  the  prejudices 
of  a  totally  different  life — the  correspondence  of 
the  new  pair,  as  it  will  be  found  in  the  "  Life," 
is  wholly  delightful,  full  of  love,  sympathy, 
and  brightness.  They  were  undoubtedly  a  strange 
pair — she  born  sarcastic,  unable  to  refrain  from 
throwing  dazzling  darts  of  mischief,  ridicule,  keen 
wit,  all  about  her,  incapable  at  any  time  of  avoid- 
ing or  not  perceiving  the  ridiculous  side  of  all 
affairs — he  accustomed  to  exaggerate  all  his  dys- 
peptic and  other  troubles,  and  not  capable  of  putting 
on  paper  the  great  volcanic  outbreak  of  laughter 
that  generally  swept  his  complaints  and  grumblings 
away.  Curiously  enough,  the  portion  of  their  early 
life  which  was  spent  in  Edinburgh — in  Comely  Bank, 
an  idyllic  title  for  the  dwelling  of  such  a  pair — was 
passed  without  much  apparent  contact  with  the  brill- 
iant society  then  existing  there,  which  must,  one 
supposes,  have  been  Carlyle's  fault,  though  with  all 
his  girdings  at  society  he  was  as  little  able  to  do 


Marriage  to 
Jane  Welsh, 
1826. 


Life  in  Edin- 
burgh. 


io8 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Friendship 
with  Jeffrey. 


Removal  to 
Dumfries- 
shire. 


without  the  fellowship  of  his  kind  as  any  man  ever 
was,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  had  many  and  attached 
friends  everywhere.  He  did  not  care  for  Wilson,  or 
Wilson  was  "for  some  reason  shy  of  him" — why, 
we  cannot  tell.  He  never  was  indeed  popular  with 
the  clan  of  "Blackwood"  for  some  untold  cause; 
therefore  there  must  probably  have  been  some 
offense  given  or  taken,  perhaps  unconsciously.  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  think  of  any  fellowship  between 
himandDeQuincey,  yet  he  had  a  kindly  admiration 
for  the  Opium-eater.  On  the  other  hand,  Jeffrey,  the 
clear-headed,  vivacious,  generous  soul,  the  head  of 
the  other  camp,  had  no  sooner  seen  this  shy  and 
rustic  man,  and  always  prone,  we  may  be  sure,  to  ex- 
aggerate his  homeliness  of  manner  when  he  came  in 
contact  with  the  polite  circles  of  literature,  than  he 
perceived  what  was  in  him  and  hastily  adopted  into 
his  friendship  both  man  and  wife,  Mrs.  Carlyle 
attracting  him  at  once  to  an  enthusiasm  of  friend- 
ship, though  only  after  his  keen  and  bright  percep- 
tions had  divined  and  understood  the  greater  figure 
by  her  side.  Unfortunately,  this  did  not  occur  till 
the  end  of  their  life  in  Edinburgh,  when  all  was 
already  arranged  for  the  transfer  of  the  household 
gods  to  the  moors  of  Dumfriessm're.  Their  inter- 
course resulted  immediately,  however,  in  Avork,  which 
was  the  thing  Carlyle  wanted  most — work  which  he 
could  satisfy  himself  was  not  merely  the  composi- 
tion of  those  "articles  "  which  seemed  to  him  a  sell- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


109 


ing  of  the  soul  to  Mammon  in  Hazlitt  and  De 
Quincey.  His  ' '  Miscellaneous  Essays, "  chiefly  on  the 
subject  of  German  literature,  and  the  first  revelation 
of  that  literature  to  many,  were  the  immediate  issue 
of  his  connection  with  Jeffrey — essays  written  before 
his  style  had  acquired  all  those  thunderous  qualities 
which  afterwards  made  it  so  attractive  to  some,  so 
repellent  to  others.  Vigorous  English  with  a  few 
idioms  and  turns  of  phrase  caught  now  from  native 
Scotch,  now  from  the  loved  Teutonic,  were  these 
narratives  and  criticisms.  To  those  who  never  ac- 
quired a  taste  for  the  vast-flowing  Solway-flood  of 
the  style  by  which  he  was  distinguished  in  after  life, 
and  in  which  his  greatest  works  were  written,  these 
six  volumes  of  Essays  still  give  assurance  of  a  noble 
writer  above  the  need  of  any  eccentricity  in  word  or 
work. 

Had  these  essays  been  written  and  his  connection 
with  so  important  and  imposing  a  literary  enterprise 
as  the  "Edinburgh  Review"  begun  a  year  sooner, 
it  is  possible  that  the  life  in  Edinburgh  might  have 
been  prolonged  and  might  have  been  more  satis- 
factory ;  but  these  are  speculations  which  are  not 
admissible  in  human  affairs.  He  was  on  the 
eve  of  leaving  for  his  wife's  little  moorland  house 
of  Craigenputtock  when  Jeffrey  first  appeared  on  his 
horizon.  There,  with  occasional  breaks — a  six 
months  in  London  which  brought  the  pair  into  a 
society  which  fully  appreciated  them — or  rather  it  is 


"Miscella- 
neous Es- 
says." 


Thunderous 
qualities  of 
their  style. 


Connection 
with  the 
"  Edinburgh 
Review." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Mrs.  Car- 
lyle. 


Her  house- 
hold life  in 
London. 


more  true  to  say  Into  the  frequent  company  of  a  few 
equals  and  disciples  who  more  or  less  spoke  their 
own  language,  and  understood  what  they  meant  to 
be  at — they  remained  for  six  years,  from  1828  to 
1834.  This  period  has  been  supposed  one  long 
period  of  agony  in  Mrs.  Carlyle's  life,  during  which 
she  laboured  and  suffered  in  utter  loneliness  and 
menial  toil,  and  sowed  the  seeds  of  ailment,  both 
physical  and  mental.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  life 
was  one  by  no  means  unusual  or  unparalleled  at 
the  time.  She  gave  a  thousand  picturesque  sarcastic 
thrilling  accounts  of  it,  often  in  fun,  often  in  comic 
despair,  sometimes  in  real  discouragement  and  weari- 
ness, such  as  is  apt  to  overcome  everyone  what- 
ever the  speciality  of  their  labours  may  be.  But  she 
was  not,  which  is  the  impression  of  her  husband's 
biographers,  a  Duke's  daughter,  a  fine  lady  utterly 
unacquainted  with  domestic  cares  and  toil.  She 
had  to  do  many  things  with  her  own  hands,  as  the 
mistress  of  a  small  household  imperfectly  served  by 
a  maid  of  all  work  generally  has  to  do.  Such  a  fate 
contained  nothing  extraordinary  for  a  country 
doctor's  daughter.  She  might  have  made  a  better 
match.  Still  such  a  match  must  have  been  always 
on  the  cards  for  her.  Among  her  contemporaries 
many  no  doubt  did  no  better.  Had  she  married  Ed- 
ward Irving,  as  it  is  said,  but  we  think  mistakenly,  she 
at  one  time  wished  to  do,  she  would  have  had  a  very 
similar  fate,  except  in  so  far  that  the  Scotch  minis- 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


ill 


ter's  humble  home  in  Pentonville  would  have  been 
less,  not  more,  suitable  to  her  than  her  own  bare 
little  ancestral  lodge  on  the  moor.  Much  that  is  un- 
utterably foolish  has  been  written  on  this  subject — void 
of  all  understanding,  as  the  conceptions  of  critics  born 
in  another  sphere  and  of  a  different  generation,  are  apt 
to  be,  however  able  and  powerful  may  be  the  minds 
that  are  brought  to  bear  upon  matters  too  high  or 
too  low  for  them.  The  letters  of  this  period,  if  taken 
without  comment,  convey  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful pictures  of  mutual  love  and  tenderness.  The 
caressing  affection  of  their  tone,  the  deep  sense  on 
Carlyle's  part  that  without  his  Goody  he  is  an  incom- 
plete man,  the  fond  family  jests  and  banter,  are  to 
ourselves  a  full  exposition  of  the  terms  on  which  the 
pair  stood,  which  no  able  editor  can  obscure,  though, 
the  circumstances  being  as  little  understood  by  the 
majority  of  his  readers  as  by  himself,  and  the  story 
being  made  much  more  piquant  by  the  light  thus 
imported  into  it,  the  able  editor  in  this  case  has  suc- 
ceeded in  obscuring  and  throwing  dust  in  the  eyes 
of  the  too  credulous  and  undiscriminating  multitude. 
However,  this  narrative  is  of  the  literary  life  of 
Carlyle,  though  it  is  almost  impossible  to  pass  by  the 
view  authoritatively  given  of  his  moral  and  social 
circumstances  without  comment.  The  years  he 
passed  at  Craigenputtock,  or  Craig  o'  Putta,  as  it  is 
frequently  called  in  the  letters,  was  the  true  period 
of  incubation  for  Carlyle's  genius,  and  laid  the  foun- 


Their  affec- 
tionate 
letters. 


Life  at 
Craigenput- 
tock. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Religious 
beliefs  in- 
fluenced by 
Galileo's 
discovery. 


dation  of  all  his  future  work  and  fame.  Here  his 
beliefs,  such  as  they  were,  took  form  and  established 
themselves.  What  they  finally  came  to  be  it  is  difficult 
to  tell,  even  after  all  the  expositions  given  by  his  bio- 
grapher and  by  other  authorities.  Mr.  Froude  de- 
scribes the  revolution  in  his  thoughts  by  the  emblem 
of  Galileo's  discovery  that  the  sun  did  not  revolve 
round  the  earth,  but  the  earth  round  the  sun,  thus 
making  plain  the  fact  that  our  world  was  no  longer 
the  centre  of  a  system  made  for  its  convenience,  but 
only  an  atom  in  the  vast  universe.  We  are  obliged  to 
say  that  no  light  to  speak  of  is  thrown  to  ourselves 
upon  Carlyle's  creed  by  this  simile,  though  it  is  no 
doubt  a  fine  one,  and  indeed  originally  used  by  himself 
in  those  interpretations  which  are  generally  but  fresh 
whirlings  and  blasts  of  cloud,  and  contain  no  pre- 
cise light  whatever.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  meant  any  light  to  be  precise.  His  mission 
was  to  show  to  the  world  the  cloud  wrappings,  the 
strange  delusive  vapours,  the  deep  abysses  of  mys- 
tery in  which  our  little  tangible  life  floats,  surrounded 
on  every  side  by  bewildering  darkness,  and  wonders 
which  no  man  can  clear  up.  To  those  who  saw  in  it  a 
clear,  comfortable,  solid  universe  enough,  the  best  of 
all  possible  worlds,  in  which  man's  chief  end  was  to 
attain  comfort  and  respectability,  he  was  a  great  de- 
structive, pulling  down  every  foundation  and  leaving 
the  unhappy  soul  weltering  in  mists  and  marshes  of 
the  unknowable. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


And  yet  in  all  his  scorn  of  the  things  that  be,  in 
all  his  wild  expositions  of  "that  stuff  that  dreams 
are  made  of,"  in  all  his  indignant  denunciations  of 
sham  and  false  appearances,  he  held  fast  to  the  great 
central  idea  of  God  and  Providence — a  Being  before 
whom  every  man  should  answer  for  his  deeds,  a 
divine  and  miraculous  system  in  which  at  the  last 
everlasting  Justice  would  be  found  supreme.  This 
was  the  only  thing  he  was  sure  of ;  but  of  it  he  was 
as  sure  as  that  he  lived .  The  mists  and  tempests 
that  whirled  about  his  head,  the  wild  quagmires 
which  he  felt  to  spread  around  him,  the  rolling 
billows  of  cloud  which  shut  out  except  in  glimpses 
all  natural  shining,  never  blurred  for  him  the  con- 
sciousness of  one  eye  that  penetrated  all,  the  certainty 
of  that  power  which  is  beyond  and  above  all  the 
contentions  of  earth.  That  the  world  was  a  place  for 
a  man  to  make  his  way  in,  to  make  his  fortune,  to 
attain  comfort  and  reputation  by  steady  climbing, 
catching  at  every  twig  to  help  himself  up,  was  the 
famous  gospel  of  respectability  which  he  felt  himself 
bound  to  trample  under  foot ;  and  it  is  true  that  he 
had  no  other  gospel  to  proclaim  ;  that  was  not  his 
business.  In  his  mind  there  was  little  hope  of  any  ; 
sometimes  when  excited  by  the  sight  of  what  he 
considered  sham  religion,  he  was  wildly  and  con- 
temptuously profane  :  often  when  moved  by  real 
piety  and  devotion,  tenderly  reverent  and  respectful. 
But  his  faith  was  this  only — the  faith  of  a  man  con- 


His  belief. 


114 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Always  sub- 
ject to  his 
heart  and 
feelings. 


scious  of  God  everywhere — God  undeniable,  all  per- 
vading, whose  ways  were  righteousness,  and  whose 
service  was  the  only  use  of  man.  This  was  much.  On 
other  matters  he  pronounced  according  to  his  feel- 
ings and  moods,  often  those  of  the  moment  only. 
On  this  he  stood  as  on  a  rock.  The  world  to  him 
was  full  of  the  wildest  phantasmagoria,  the  puniest 
atoms  of  living  creatures  playing  such  pranks  before 
high  heaven  !  performing  all  injustices,  cruelties, 
intolerable  perversities,  storming  out  their  little  day 
of  contradiction  and  blasphemy.  But  over  all  God 
looking  on,  permitting  the  wild  tempest  to  work  itself 
out,  keeping  ever,  through  all  seeming  impossibility, 
the  reins  in  His  own  hands.  "He  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh  :  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in 
derision,"  most  terrible  words  of  any  in  Holy  Writ, 
might  have  been  the  text  upon  which  Carlyle's  work 
was  founded. 

And  yet  we  think  amid  all  his  consciousness  of 
supreme  thought,  and  a  tempestuous  power  of  intel- 
lect, and  all  the  drawbacks  of  gloomy  and  arrogant 
lature  with  which  he  is  credited,  Carlyle  was  always, 
joth  as  a  man  and  a  writer,  subject  to  his  heart  and 
:eelings  in  a  way  which  few  have  been.  The  veriest 
sham  and  impostor  denounced  in  burning  words, 
once  brought  into  contact  with  him,  showing  another 
personal  side,  the  real  side  of  nature,  became  at 
once  a  man  and  a  brother.  Against  no  voice  out  of 
a  human  heart  could  his  heart  steel  itself.  Fire 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


and  flame  and  the  bellowings  as  of  a  volcano  in 
labour,  for  the  abstract,  the  general ;  for  the  indivi- 
dual once  actually  brought  before  him,  instant  per- 
ception of  those  gleams  of  humanity,  those  under- 
lights  of  truth  which  are  to  be  perceived  in  most  men 
by  the  eye  that  can  see.  Coming  into  a  London 
drawing-room  with  his  intense  peasant  suspicious- 
ness  and  distrust  of  his  fellow-men,  with  his  equally 
intense  peasant  expectation  that  here  at  last  might 
be  found  the  society  of  the  imagination,  the  brilliant 
talk  and  lofty  thought  which  he  had  believed  in  from 
the  time  of  earliest  musings  and  eager  hopes  con- 
ceived in  his  father's  farmyard  or  among  the  beasts 
on  the  Ann  an  dale  farm — he  turned  with  disgust  and 
a  silent  anathema,  finding  it  all  empty  talk  and 
foolish  rivalry  :  but  once  seduced  into  a  corner  with 
— it  scarcely  mattered  whom — looking  into  a  pair 
of  unaffected  human  eyes,  brought  to  bay  and  to 
conversation,  the  abstract  opposition,  so  fiery,  so 
bitter,  so  almost  vindictive  in  dislike  and  disappoint- 
ment, floated  in  a  moment  away,  and  the  man  he 
spoke  to  became  tolerable,  if  not  lovable ;  no  thing 
at  all  to  be  denounced,  but  a  fellow-creature,  perhaps 
a  friend.  "  Rather  liked  the  man,  and  shall  like  to 
see  him  again,"  he  says.  And  so  it  happens  con- 
stantly. Scarcely  a  better  illustration  could  be  given 
than  the  way  in  which  Leigh  Hunt  was  treated  by 
Carlyle,  supposed  essence  of  all  that  was  rude,  violent 
and  intolerant,  and  Dickens  the  sentimental  optimist, 


His  intense 
sympathy 
with  human 
nature  and 
horror  of 
shams. 


Carlyle's 
treatment 
of  Leigh 
Hunt. 


n6 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Dickens' 
treatment  of 
Carlyle. 


"  Sartor 
Resartus  " 
appeared  in 

Fraser's 
Magazine," 


full  of  gushing  brotherhood  and  geniality.  The  rugged 
Scotch  philosopher  who  hated  everything  that  was 
unreal,  could  not  discredit  or  push  from  him  the 
kindly  neighbour  whose  weakness  indeed  he  gradu- 
ally got  to  know,  but  never  stigmatised  with  any 
cruel  word.  The  gushing  and  genial  novelist  made 
of  him  one  of  the  most  remorseless  sketches  ever 
drawn,  impaling  his  friend  on  the  sharpest  stake  of 
criticism  to  the  laughter  and  enjoyment  of  the 
public.  Carlyle  was  capable  of  a  sweep  of  wrath 
over  the  heads  of  his  company,  devoting  it  in 
general  to  the  infernal  gods,  but  never  of  such  a 
treachery  as  this. 

The  chief  outcome  of  the  life  at  Craigenputtock 
was  "Sartor  Resartus,"  the  great  test-work  and  shib- 
boleth by  which  the  true  Carlyle-lover  is  to  be  proved 
at  all  times.  It  was  amid  all  the  "articles  "  which 
kept  the  family  going,  and  which  by  that  time  had 
developed  from  essays  on  German  literature  to  such 
a  tremendous  chapter  of  history  as  the  Diamond 
Necklace,  the  first  real  revelation  of  the  new  form  in 
literature — that  this  book  was  produced.  Its  strange 
philosophy,  its  stranger  tumultuous  volcanic  style, 
its  extraordinary  stamp  of  a  burning  earnestness  and 
meaning  which  were  incomprehensible  to  the  mul- 
titude, stupefying  instead  of  exciting  the  public, 
came  out  in  the  last  form  which  was  likely  to  do 
them  justice — in  successive  instalments  in  "Fraser's 
Magazine"  during  the  year  1833.  And  we  can  but 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


117 


honour  the  daring  publisher  who  ventured  to  place 
it  there,  and  to  pay  solid  money  for  it,  after  its  re- 
jection by  all  the  great  firms  who  returned  it  with 
dumb  amaze — to  the  dogged  resignation  of  the 
author ;  whose  determination  some  time  or  another  to 
bring  out  ' '  Dreck,  "~as  the  unfortunate  manuscript  was 
called  in  the  family,  and  force  him  upon  the  stupid 
race  which  had  not  discernment  enough  to  see  what 
was  in  him,  never  faltered.  That  "  Dreck  "  caught 
here  and  there  a  listening  ear,  and  that  even  among 
those  to  whom  much  of  the  rhapsody  and  whirl- 
wind was  incomprehensible  there  were  a  few  land- 
scapes, a  few  situations  which  could  not  be  forgotten 
• — there  can  be  little  doubt.  The  wonderful  episode 
of  childhood,  the  home  scenes  of  Wessnichtwo 
(Kennaquhair  according  to  Sir  Walter,  in  the  ver- 
nacular Ecclefechan,  there  standing  for  ever  in 
ethereal  light  and  soft  visionary  shadow)— the  moun- 
tain path  where  the  hero-philosopher  sees  love  and 
happiness  sweep  past  him  in  the  carriage  that  bears 
Blumine  and  her  lover  across  the  Alps,  were  not  to 
be  passed  lightly  by;  but  the  book  itself  was  like  the 
song  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  a  thing  to  be  delivered 
into  the  ear  of  the  man  whom  the  poet  could  discern 
as  he  passed  to  be  the  man  who  could  hear,  and 
whom  no  wedding  feast  or  brave  procession  could 
deliver  from  the  necessity.  The  public  learned 
afterwards,  from  the  insistence  of  these  predestined 
listeners,  to  receive  with  respect  and  a  certain  awe 


"  Dreck." 


The  Home 
Scenes 
of  Wess- 
nichtwo. 


"  Sartor 
Reaiirtus.' 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Removal  to 

London. 
1834. 


those  wild  vaticinations  of  the  new  prophet,  but 
never  heartily  took  to  "Dreck";  though  by  means 
of  its  power  of  showing  in  the  strongest  form  all  the 
peculiarities  and  extravagancies  of  its  author,  it  was 
swept  afterwards  into  the  adoration  of  many  who 
without  much  understanding  always  find  the  exagger- 
ated gestures  of  the  orator,  the  wildest  tropes  of  the 
poet,  most  easy  to  mimic  and  to  adore. 

Life,  however,  was  kept  going  at  Craigenputtock 
with  occasionally  a  bad  moment,  as  when  the  house- 
hold, with  its  numerous  dependants,  Brother  John  in 
London,  Brother  Alick  on  the  farm,  had  but  five 
pounds  between  them  and  ruin — a  condition  prob- 
ably momentary,  perhaps  stated  with  a  certain  eye 
to  the  effect  to  be  produced  on  languid  souls  not 
sufficiently  determined  to  help  themselves — until 
that  solitude  became  intolerable,  its  uses  being  ex- 
hausted, and  the  great  genius  of  its  inhabitant  suf- 
ficiently matured,  and  the  pair  finally,  after  various 
hesitations,  came  to  London,  where  they  settled  in 
the  month  of  February,  1834,  in  that  little  well-known 
house  in  Cheyne  Row,  which  they  never  left  for  any 
prolonged  period  again.  A  little  old-fashioned  house 
with  dark  panelled  gleaming  walls,  so  much  of  them 
as  were  not  covered  with  books — where  all  that  was 
best  in  England,  as  well  as  much  that  was  far  from 
the  best,  the  natural  drift  of  straw  and  hay  and  stub- 
ble which  gets  upon  every  living  current,  came  and 
shone  and  talked ;  and  where  many  a  scene,  half 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


119 


pathetic,  half  romantic,  never  without  a  ludicrous 
side,  was  recorded  by  the  swift  flashing  pen,  full  of 
satire,  fun  and  tears,  of  the  house-historian — the 
Goody  of  early  years,  the  brilliant,  tender  woman 
whose  nature  it  was  to  spread  a  veil  of  mockery 
over  her  warmest  feelings,  and  hide  with  a  jibe  the 
"gush"  which  was  not  to  her  Scotch  kind  and 
generation  a  permitted  thing.  Two  scenes  remain 
in  the  memory  from  the  much  recorded  incidents  of 
that  life — the  evenings  in  the  firelight,  when  the 
sage  sat  and  discoursed  of  his  work  to  his  wife  lying 
on  the  sofa  in  the  shadow,  responding,  keeping  up 
the  stream,  sometimes  wishing  in  her  heart  that  he 
would  remember  her  headache  and  inquire  into  her 
domestic  cares  a  little,  and  perhaps  saying  so  to  her 
next  correspondent,  to  whom,  in  a  hundred  playful 
lights  and  shadows,  she  repeated  the  habitual  scenes, 
proud  of  the  picture  though  flinging  her  swift  arrow 
through  the  chief  figure  of  it  all  the  same.  And 
there  is  another  which  dwells  in  the  personal  recollec- 
tion of  the  present  writer,  when  both  were  old,  when 
the  wife  opened  the  old-fashioned  little  square  piano, 
the  same  no  doubt  that  had  been  tuned  to  his  delight 
and  made  music  possible  at  Craigenputtock,  and 
played  to  the  tall  old  man  in  his  grey  dressing- 
gown,  sitting  meditative  by  the  fire.  A  prettier, 
more  touching  scene  could  not  be.  She  played  to 
him — What  ?  the  reader  may  ask.  Great  strains  of 
Handel  or  Beethoven,  fit  for  angels  to  hear  ?  Oh  no  ! 


Home  life  in 
Cheyne  Row 
Chelsea. 


120 


THE  VICTORIAN'  AGE  OF 


"  History  of 
the  French 
Revolu- 
tion," 1837. 


Carlyle  had  no  ear  for  the  great  masters,  knew  noth- 
ing of  music  as  people  say.  She  played  him  the  old 
tunes  of  his  own  countryside,  the  native  music  often 
so  rich  in  natural  pathos,  so  soft  in  artless  melody,  so 
ringing  and  joyous  in  its  accompaniment  of  rustic 
revel.  Such  scenes  remain  along  with  many  evi- 
dences of  absolute  union  ;  yet,  no  doubt,  there  were 
weepings  and  there  were  discords  under  that  modest 
roof — moments  of  intense  strain  and  even  conflict, 
embittered  by  the  fact  that  this  pain  has  none  of  the 
common  troubles  of  life  to  supply  the  sharp  and 
pungent  salt  of  common  preoccupation  to  the 
common  meal — no  children  coming  and  going,  no 
sorrows  to  be  borne  together  ;  no  sons  or  daughters 
to  be  followed  afar  by  anxieties  and  thoughts ;  but 
all  concentrated  as  within  the  strait  horizon  of  a 
pair  of  lovers  who  must  quarrel  or  die — of  which  un- 
fortunate circumstances  much  mischief,  and  a  general 
factitious  representation,  falsely  true,  had  been  made 
and  remains. 

Carlyle's  first  work  in  London  was  the  "History  of 
the  French  Revolution,"  which  brings  him,  after  all 
these  preliminaries,  into  our  special  period.  One  of 
the  first  literary  distinctions  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign 
was  the  publication  of  this  book,  which  took  place 
in  the  year  of  her  Majesty's  accession,  1837.  The 
perfection  at  once  of  that  new  grandiose  yet  rugged 
voice,  which  broke  every  law  of  composition  and 
triumphed  over  them  all,  which  shocked  and  be- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


wildered  all  critics  and  authorities,  yet  excited  and 
stirred  the  whole  slumbrous  world  of  literature,  and 
rang  into  the  air  like  a  trumpet, — and  of  a  new 
manner  altogether  of  regarding  the  events  of  history, 
a  great  pictorial  representation,  all  illuminated  by 
the  blaze,  sometimes  lurid,  sometimes  terrible,  of  the 
highest  poetic  genius  and  imagination, — were  fully 
displayed  in  this  astonishing  work.  Histories 
enough  of  the  French  Revolution  had  been  given  to 
the  world,  and  have  been  since — personal  experi- 
ences, formal  documents,  fictitious  narratives,  all  the 
collections  of  material  possible,  showed  forth  in 
almost  every  setting  that  could  be  thought  of, — but 
none  which  conveyed  the  very  sound  and  uproar  of 
that  wild  orgie  of  the  fates  ;  none  that  showed  the 
unhappy  confused  workings  of  those  blind  guides 
and  leaders,  of  those  still  more  blind  opponents  of 
the  national  frenzy,  with  such  living  force  and 
power.  If  they  are  all  perhaps  too  much  like  wild 
shadows  running  thither  and  hither  against  a  back- 
ground of  flame  and  smoke  and  ever-blazing  fire, 
that  is  the  very  bitterness  of  the  truth  with  which  the 
genius  of  Carlyle  seized  the  reality  of  the  most 
lamentable,  the  most  awful,  the  most  influential  of 
recent  epochs.  It  is  no  mere  record,  but  a  great 
drama  passing  before  our  eyes.  We  are  made 
spectators  rather  than  readers  of  the  terrible  develop- 
ments, one  after  another,  of  each  successive  act.  A 
drama  working  blindly  towards  a  denouement  of 


Great  dra- 
matic power 
and  highest 
poetic  genius 
displayed  in 
this  work. 


Not  a  mere 
record,  but  a 
great  drama 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  char- 
acter and 
philosophy 
impressed  on 
the  public. 


His  old 
friend  Irving 
dead  of 
consump- 
tion. 


which  its  actors  had  neither  conception  nor  intention, 
through  which  they  blindly  stalk,  stumble,  fall,  each 
in  his  turn  bringing  numerous  and  unthought  of 
complications,  new  turns  and  twists  of  fate,  as 
veritably  happened,  as  happens  continually,  though 
to  most  generations  there  is  no  Seer  to  perceive  how 
these  strange  new  openings  and  closings  succeed 
each  other,  and  how  the  great  thread  of  destiny 
rolls  on. 

It  is  a  significant  sign  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
already  impressed  himself,  his  character  and  phi- 
losophy, upon  something  that  could  be  called  the 
public,  that  so  early  as  this  year  Carlyle  delivered  a 
series  of  lectures,  which  were  tolerably  well  and 
profitably  attended.  From  the  beginning  he  had 
been  recognised  by  everybody  of  special  ability  or 
discrimination  with  whom  he  had  been  brought  into 
contact,  and  he  had  scarcely  more  than  appeared  in 
London  before  he  was  surrounded  with  appreciation 
and  friendship.  His  old  friend,  Irving,  who  had  done 
all  that  in  him  lay  on  Carlyle's  first  brief  visit  to 
London  to  extend  his  acquaintance  and  his  fame, 
had  by  this  time  departed  from  the  world  of  agitation 
and  religious  excitement,  the  troublous  formation  of 
a  new  sect,  in  which,  though  he  was  the  greatest 
agent,  he  was  far  from  being  the  leader — and  Carlyle 
had  entered,  if  not  sympathetically,  yet  with  grief 
and  pity,  into  the  ending  of  that  tragedy.  But  the 
stepping-stone  of  that  early  friendship  had  been  for 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


123 


sometime  quite  unnecessary  to  him.  He  began  to 
be  sought  after  everywhere  by  great  persons  at 
home,  and  by  pilgrims  from  beyond  the  seas.  The 
best  of  his  literary  contemporaries  in  London,  John 
Stuart  Mill,  the  Austins,  Monckton  Milnes,  afterward 
Lord  Houghton,  always  a  true  and  steadfast  friend, 
and  many  more  had  appreciated  him  from  the  first, 
and  now  circled  about  him.  Notable  foreigners, 
especially  of  the  revolutionary  kind,  were  brought  to 
the  little  hospitable  house,  where  all  the  simple  fare 
there  was,  was  shared  liberally  with  those  who  came. 
This  society  went  on  increasing  till  it  included  all 
that  was  distinguished  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  in  a 
wonderfully  short  space  of  time  the  Annandale 
peasant  farmer,  retaining  in  many  ways  the  preju- 
dices, and  unaltered  the  accent,  of  his  native  district 
(the  present  writer  never  heard  him,  however,  speak 
the  "broad  Scots,"  which  is  so  freely  put  into  his 
mouth  by  witnesses  perhaps  less  acquainted  with  it), 
became  in  his  uncompromising  individuality,  con- 
ciliating nobody,  the  acknowleged  head  and  most 
prominent  figure  in  English  literature.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  it  was  his  "French  Revolution  " 
which  turned  the  scale — a  book  more  interesting 
than  any  romance,  which  those  who  took  it  up 
could  not  lay  down,  and  which  was  far  too  impres- 
sive in  its  general  character,  too  powerful  and  novel 
in  its  art,  to  be  mistaken  or  overlooked. 

Carlyle  was  made  president  of  the  newly-founded 


His  literary 
contempo- 
raries. 


Hospitality. 


Acknowl- 
edged head 
of  English 
Literature. 


124 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Heroes 
and  Hero- 
worship," 
1841. 


"  Crom- 
well," 1845. 


The  climax 
of  Carlyle's 
fame. 


"  Life  of 
John  Ster- 
ling," 1851. 


London  Library  in  1839,  a  proof  of  the  position 
accorded  him  by  the  press.  He  had  come  to  London 
comparatively  unknown  only  five  years  before.  In 
that  year  was  published  his  essay  on  ' '  Chartism. "  In 
1 840  he  delivered,  and  in  1841  published  his  "Heroes 
and  Hero-worship";  and  in  1845  the  great  work  on 
Cromwell,  which  at  last  fairly  brought  him  within 
knowledge  of  the  multitude,  and  added  to  all  previ- 
ous and  more  precious  fame,  the  applause,  evidenced 
by  a  large  sale  and  complete  success  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view,  of  the  crowd.  This  may  be  considered 
as  the  climax  of  Carlyle's  fame,  which  was  always 
a  fame  full  of  contradictions,  hotly  discussed  in 
every  society,  causing  a  ferment  of  almost  personal 
feeling  between  those  that  were  for  and  those  that 
were  against  the  great  writer,  who  considered  the 
prejudices  of  no  one,  and  fully  gave  forth  his  own 
with  all  the  force  of  his  great  character  and  impas- 
sioned utterance.  In  1849  his  scornful  uncompro- 
mising treatment  of  the  "Nigger  Question,"  made 
many  hearts  of  his  disciples  quake,  as  did  the  "Latter 
Day  Pamphlets,  "published  in  1850.  His  "Life  of  John 
Sterling,"  followed  in  1851 — in  our  opinion,  notwith- 
standing all  the  power  and  beauty  of  the  sketch,  an 
unfortunate  book,  as  his  friendship  with  that  deeply 
impressionable  and  sadly  destined  young  man,  was 
perhaps  unfortunate  too.  What  a  man  believes  is 
his  own.  What  is  good  in  it  may  be  enough  for 
him,  and  for  what  is  wrong  in  it  he  must  himself 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


I25 


bear  the  responsibility  ;  but  it  is  an  overbold  and 
terrible  thing  to  interfere  with  the  foundations  of 
another,  especially  when  the  one  who  interferes  is 
strong  above  the  tempests  of  life,  while  the  other  is 
weak  and  surrounded  by  all  its  trials  and  sorrows. 
We  confess  that  to  ourselves  Carlyle  is  at  his  moral 
worst  in  this  book.  He  sees  his  friend  too  much  as 
he  saw  the  heroes  of  the  French  Revolution,  all 
round,  against  the  bigger  background  which  makes 
of  him  but  a  drifting  speck,  blown  here  and  there, 
of  so  little  ultimate  importance,  his  little  passions 
and  agonies  so  ephemeral,  so  mere  a  shadow  in  the 
great  phantasmagoria  of  life.  This  is  a  treatment 
which  is  extraordinarily  impressive  in  history,  but 
which  all  human  feeling  cries  out  against  in  the  case 
of  a  known  man  and  friend. 

When  it  was  known  that  Carlyle  had  taken  as  his 
next  subject  the  history  of  Frederick  the  Great,  there 
was  a  commotion  of  expectation  in  the  world  which 
was  not  all  agreeable.  His  future  audience  shook 
their  heads  over  his  choice  of  a  subject.  Frederick, 
he  who  had  annexed  Silesia,  he  who  had  ridden  red- 
handed  over  half  Europe  !  It  had  been  hard  enough 
to  swallow  Waterford  and  Derry  in  his  justifications 
of  their  horrors,  but  how  were  we  to  take  the  German 
despot  to  our  bosoms  even  at  his  bidding?  This 
book  took  him  the  strenuous  labour  of  years.  He 
sought  his  material  far  and  wide,  always  with  the 
anxious  help  and  furtherance  of  everybody  at  home 


"  Frederick 
the  Great," 
1858-1862- 
1865. 


126 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Its  reception 
and  criii- 
cism. 


Election  to 
the  Lord 
Rectorship 
of  Edin- 
burgh Uni- 
versity. 


or  abroad  who  could  be  of  service  to  him.  For  many 
years  he  and  his  household  dwelt  darkly  in  the 
"valley  of  the  shadow  of  Frederick  "  as  his  wife  said. 
At  last  the  laborious  work  came  to  an  end,  the  first 
two  volumes  being  published  in  1858,  the  later  ones 
in  1862,  1864,  and  1865.  It  was  received  with  even 
more  contradictory  and  mingled  sentiments  than 
Cromwell.  Of  that  book  there  was  much  criticism, 
and  many  dissentients  :  but  the  man  at  least  was  our 
own,  and  the  strong  elucidations  of  his  great  career, 
were  of  the  deepest  interest  to  his  race.  But  Fred- 
erick was  a  foreign  despot  who  had  little  in  him  to 
recommend  him  either  to  the  heart  or  judgment. 
Carlyle's  worship  of  strength  and  force,  his  love  for 
the  bold,  the  daring,  for  uncompromising  action  and 
the  tenacity  that  never  loses  hold  of  its  object,  were 
his  inspirations  in  this  extraordinary  piece  of  history. 
He  set  Germany  before  us  as  he  had  set  France, 
but  not  in  that  chaos  of  conflicting  influences  which 
had  made  all  France  shimmer  and  burn  before  our 
eyes.  The  German  epic  was  not  that  of  a  nation,  but 
of  one  man.  The  book  had  an  enormous  popularity 
and  success  in  the  external  way,  as  now  had  every 
word  that  came  from  his  pen,  but  it  had  not  the  same 
exciting  and  inspiring  power  as  those  that  went 
before. 

In  1865  he  was  elected  Lord  Rector  of  Edinburgh 
University,  and  felt  the  compliment  thus  paid  him  to 
the  bottom  of  his  heart,  with  a  pleasure  which  he 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


127 


would  fain  have  hid  under  the  old  misanthropical 
pretences  of  indifference  to  the  applause  of  the 
public,  but  could  not,  in  the  unaffected  gratifica- 
tion it  gave  him.  He  went  to  Edinburgh,  beyond 
all  hope  of  his  young  constituency,  to  give  them 
the  habitual  address.  Alas,  the  journey  was  ill- 
starred  !  His  wife  had  spent  the  time  of  the  trial 
and  ordeal  of  the  speech,  which  she  had  feared 
might  be  too  much  for  him,  in  a  restless  anxiety, 
and  impatience  to  be  with  him,  wonderings  whether 
he  would  be  properly  cared  for,  and  breathless  re- 
alisation of  every  step  he  was  taking,  which  was 
more  like  the  absorption  of  a  lover,  or  of  one  of  those 
mothers  who  live  but  in  the  life  of  a  cherished  child, 
than  the  sober  sympathy  of  an  elderly  and,  as  sup- 
posed, disappointed  wife.  When  she  heard  by  tele- 
gram of  the  triumphant  reception  and  success  of  his 
appearance  in  Edinburgh,  she  began  to  breathe  freely 
again  ;  but  she  was  by  this  time  entirely  shattered  in 
health,  a  shadow  of  her  former  self,  worn  to  attenua- 
tion, and  so  feeble  that  we  well  recollect  our  reluctance 
to  leave  her,  to  permit  her  to  return  home  alone, 
which  she  insisted  upon  doing  after  a  visit  made  to 
the  present  writer.  No  doubt  these  anxieties  had  so 
fretted  the  slender  thread  of  existence,  which,  never 
strong,  had  now  lasted  for  seventy  years,  that  the 
simplest  accident  was  enough  to  snap  it  asunder. 
This  accident  occurred  a  few  days  after,  in  the  carriage 
in  which  she  was  taking  her  daily  drive.  And  Carlyle 


Mrs.  Car- 
lyle's  path- 
etic anxiety 
and  devo- 
tion. 


His  trium- 
phant recep- 
tion in 
Edinburgh. 


Death  cf 
Mrs.  Car- 
lyle, 


128 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Carlyle's  in- 
tense re- 
morseful 
grief. 


came  home  to  a  desolate  house  from  which  everything 
that  made  it  home  had  departed  for  ever. 

She  had  fretted  that  ending  life  out  in  anxieties  for 
him  ;  he  lived  the  life  that  remained  in  a  mourning 
for  her  which  was  so  intense,  so  full  of  remorse  and 
compunction,  as  to  be  excessive  and  unjust  to  him- 
self. No  one  who  has  lost  a  dear  companion  but 
has  suffered  more  or  less  from  that  malady.  It  is  one 
which  embitters  the  grief  of  the  fondest  and  most 
faithful  heart.  We  have  never  done  enough,  never 
loved  enough  those  who  have  been  the  objects  of  our 
deepest  affection,  when  the  darkness  closes  over  them 
and  we  can  no  longer  explain  or  ask  pardon.  Carlyle 
recollected  every  rough  word,  every  ill-humour  of  his 
life,  as  he  sat  mourning  like  a  child  in  her  deserted 
drawing-room.  He  magnified  her  until  it  seemed  to 
the  hearers  as  if  she  had  been  a  princess  stooping  out 
of  her  state  to  him,  and  he  the  clown,  had  never  been 
grateful,  never  recompensed  her,  never  seen  all  her 
sacrifice  and  condescension  till  now.  From  this  fond 
superstition  of  the  heart,  the  faithful  old  lover  of 
Jeanie  Welsh  never  recovered,  but  sat  bemoaning 
himself  and  exalting  her  for  the  rest  of  the  dim  years 
of  his  life  ;  sometimes  in  a  rage  of  grief  at  himself 
and  all  who  had  not  done  hersufficient  honour ;  some- 
times uttering  the  most  pathetic  soft  recollections 
of  her  youthful  beauty  and  grace,  elegies  and 
mournful  litanies  in  her  praise.  "There  was  none 
like  her,  none.''  The  depth  of  this  compunctious 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  l^URE. 


129 


love  was  taken  by  at  least  one  bystander  for  a 
real  and  matter-of-fact  indictment  by  Carlyle  of  him- 
self— a  self-accusation  of  the  bitterest  kind.  Such 
self-accusations  come  from  those  who  have  least 
reason  to  reproach  themselves.  In  the  depth  of  his 
passionate  grief  the  old  man  took  up  again  that  pen 
of  his  which  had  been  as  a  flaming  sword,  full  of 
lightningand  gleams  of  fire,  and  began  to  write  wildly, 
he  knew  not  what,  tracing  his  own  life  from  its  be- 
ginning ;  sometimes  with  the  tenderest  shadows  and 
touches  of  that  consoling  imagination  which  by 
moments  takes  even  despair  out  of  itself ;  sometimes 
with  hot  reflections  of  the  grief-passion  turned  to  ire, 
and  fiery  impatience  with  all  around.  This  book,  or 
collection  of  pictures  of  his  life,  in  the  stiller,  dimmer, 
but  calmer  twilight  which  succeeded,  he  forgot  that 
he  had  written — recollecting  only  that  something  there 
was  that  should  not  be  printed  without  the  most 
careful  editing — or  "better  not  at  all."  One  or  two 
other  brief  outbursts,  forebodings  of  political  evil, 
came  from  him  and  were  published  in  the  following 
years — "  Shooting  Niagara"  for  one,  the  very  burden 
of  a  prophet  of  evil,  in  1867;  and  certain  polemical 
defences  of  the  conduct  of  Germany  in  the  war,  in 
1870.  He  died  in  1881,  having  survived,  but  never 
ceased  to  mourn,  his  wife  for  fifteen  years. 

He  was  no  sooner  dead — this  great,  universally 
honoured  chief  of  literature  in  England,  a  man  against 
whom  no  one  had  a  word  to  say,  to  whom  the  nation 

9 


Distressful 
condition  in 
which  "  Re- 
miniscen- 
ces," were 
written. 


Miscella- 
neous works 


His  death, 


I3o 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The 

"  Reminis- 
cences." 


itself,  amid  all  its  huge  businesses  and  interests, 
gave  a  moment's  pause  of  respectful  silence  to  ac- 
knowledge his  greatness — than  the  book  of  his  fiery 
grief,  the  ' '  Reminiscences, "  which  had  given  outlet  to 
his  passion  and  misery,  and  of  which  he  remem- 
bered only  that  it  was  to  be  anxiously  revised  or  not 
published  at  all,  was  flung,  just  as  it  was,  like  a  red- 
hot  stone  in  the  face  of  the  country  which  mourned 
forCarlyle.  In  the  "Chronicles  of  the  Canongate," 
there  is  a  terrible  picture,  too  piteous,  too  miserable 
almost  to  bear,  of  the  babbling  wrath  and  irritation 
of  the  old  man  paralysed  and  broken,  whose  trem- 
bling niece  and  faithful  attendant  try  hard  to  conceal 
him  in  his  wretchedness  even  from  a  sympathetic  eye. 
The  publication  of  the  "Reminiscences"  as  they 
stand,  was  as  if  these  devoted  nurses  had  reported 
all  the  stammering,  vain  passion  of  the  sick  man, 
the  frenzy  of  his  indignation  when  he  was  not  under- 
stood. Carlyle  was  so  much  in  a  worse  position 
that  even  that  irritability  of  grief,  half-wrought  to 
madness,  was  instinct  with  genius,  and  that  many 
beautiful  things  were  thrown  into  the  mass,  molten 
together  with  the  fiery  lava  stream  that  flowed 
between.  The  public  caught  breathless,  as  was 
natural,  at  this  last  legacy  of  the  great  spirit  de- 
parted, this  self-revelation,  self-betrayal,  of  which  the 
piteous  meaning  escaped  the  common  eye.  They 
concluded  that  this  and  thus  was  the  man  whom  they 
had  blindly  respected ;  and  when  his  biography  fol- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


lowed  in  the  same  tone,  perhaps  it  was  little  wonder 
that  the  pause  of  reverence  and  awe  with  which  three 
kingdoms  saw  the  aged  head  of  their  greatest  writer 
disappear  into  the  grave,  was  broken  with  railing 
and  with  mockery  on  every  side.  These  things  are 
difficult  to  speak  of  with  patience  and  moderation — 
all  the  more  that  the  impression  thus  deeply  stamped 
upon  the  common  mind  when  it  was  most  ready  to 
receive  the  image,  is  now,  we  fear,  without  remedy, 
an  impression  not  to  be  effaced,  and  from  which  even 
the  calmer  judgment  of  posterity  will  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  get  free. 

One  of  Carlyle's  earliest  friends  in  London,  and 
for  many  years  most  constant  associate  and  com- 
panion, was  a  man  in  every  respect  so  different  from 
himself  that  it  is  curious  to  imagine  how  they  could 
ever  have  found  a  common  standing  ground.  The 
calm  philosophy  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  his  lucid  and 
careful  English,  his  character  of  mild  sentiment  and 
well-ordered  thinking,  would  seem  to  have  made  it 
little  possible  that  he  could  have  found  anything 
congenial  in  the  tumultuous  and  rugged  Scotsman, 
with  his  whirlwinds  of  thought,  his  impassioned 
nature  and  diction.  But  that  he  did  so,  seeing  at  the 
first  glance  what  was  in  that  ignored  and  unsuccessful 
author,  is  one  of  the  greatest  evidences  of  his  insight 
and  understanding.  Mill  himself  had  been  long 
known  to  the  world  as  one  of  the  first  of  the  philos- 
ophers and  thinkers  of  his  generation,  by  far  the 

7 


Carlyle  and 
Mill  con- 
trasted 


John  Stuart 
Mill,  1806- 
1873. 


132 


THE   VICTORIAN  AGE  OF. 


His  father's 
singular 
character- 
istics. 


Subjected  to 
an  iron  disci- 
pline. 


finest  production  of  the  Utilitarian  school,  before  the 
singular  revelations  of  his  autobiography  brought  the 
man  himself  and  the  secret  of  his  being  to  the  public 
knowledge.  It  was  thus  only  after  his  death  that 
the  larger  circle  of  his  countrymen,  to  whom  he  was 
personally  unknown,  came  to  know  the  man  whose 
works  had  been  taught  in  their  highest  schools,  and 
shaped  their  own  forms  of  thought  for  years. 

He  was  born  in  1806  in  London  ;  the  son  of  James 
Mill,  who  was  one  of  the  most  devoted  disciples  of 
Bentham,  living  under  the  same  roof  with  that  curi- 
ous embodiment  of  reason,  invention,  and  cheerful 
self-absorption,  in  his  later  days,  and  in  himself  a 
still  more  wonderful  combination  of  the  hard  and  the 
sensitive  theory  carried  to  the  point  of  extravagance, 
the  obduracy  of  iron  in  carrying  out  his  own  plans, 
and  the  sensibility  of  a  woman  to  affront  or  coldness 
from  others.  John  Stuart  Mill  was  the  eldest  son  of 
this  singular  man,  and  taken  by  him  remorselessly 
out  of  his  cradle  to  be  the  subject  of  such  a  tremen- 
dous experiment  as  never  father  in  his  senses  tried 
before.  The  Chinese  bind  up  the  feet  of  their  women 
children  from  their  earliest  years,  but  the  elder 
Mill  improved  upon  this  process,  and  bound  his 
child's  mind  at  an  age  too  early  even  to  show  the 
first  bud  of  promise,  in  an  iron  machinery  which 
crushed  the  very  head  and  heart  of  the  unfortunate 
boy  into  the  mould  which  his  merciless  father  meant 
him  to  take.  The  incredible  age  at  which  he  be- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


came  a  prodigy  of  learning,  the  iron  bondage  in 
which  he  lived,  the  ceaseless  and  awful  processes  of 
education  through  which  he  was  put  and  which  took 
all  childhood,  all  the  delight  of  early  youth  from 
him,  twisting  his  nature,  and,  to  a  painful  degree, 
altering  his  natural  constitution,  he  himself  has  told 
us.  There  is  no  more  remarkable  human  document 
in  existence.  The  unfortunate  child  subjected  to 
this  iron  discipline  was  of  a  mild  and  moderate 
nature,  incapable  of  rebellion.  He  had  a  mind  natu- 
rally attuned  to  poetry  and  emotion,  but  was  so  set 
and  bound  by  the  remorseless  machinery  of  his  life, 
that  when  the  period  of  manhood  and  freedom  came, 
and  the  better  aspect  of  existence  was  revealed  to 
him,  a  miracle  which  befell  through  the  poetry  of 
Wordsworth,  the  sunshine  came  too  late,  and  only 
awakened  with  its  sudden  warmth  and  lustre,  a 
wistful  sense  of  something  lost.  Perhaps  his  educa- 
tion helped  to  promote  the  concentration  and  lucid- 
ity of  mind  which  has  made  his  greatest  work,  his 
"  System  of  Logic,"  so  great  a  boon  both  to  instruc- 
tors and  pupils,  the  most  important  work  upon  that 
subject  since  Bacon. 

His  education  was  conducted  exclusively  by  his 
father  and  according  to  his  rigid  system  without  any 
beneficial  distraction  from  school  or  college  life. 
He  was  born  under  the  very  shadow  of  Bentham, 
and  his  mother  was  one  of  those  predestined  pro- 
ducers of  large  families  who  have  no  leisure  left 


His  mind 
naturally  at- 
tunedto 
poetry  and 
emotion. 


His  concen- 
tration and 
lucidity  of 
mind. 


Trained  in 
the  utilita- 
rian school 


134 


THE  VICTORIAN  A  GE  OF 


Placed  in  the 

India 

House. 


Declines  a 
seat  in  the 
Indian 
Council. 


them  to  exercise  any  influence  upon  their  eldest 
born,  even  had  she  been  capable  of  it,  of  which 
there  is  no  evidence,  so  that  his  last  chance  of  the 
operations  of  simple  life  was  lost.  Mill  made  up 
for  this  later  on  by  falling  unreservedly  into  the 
power  of  a  lady  who  shaped,  we  have  no  right  to 
say  otherwise  than  beneficially,  the  course  of  his 
after  life,  though  this  revenge  of  nature  involved  him, 
in  his  latter  days,  in  some  questionable  theories  and 
special  pleadings,  founded  rather  on  communicated 
enthusiasm  than  on  individual  thoughts. 

When  his  strange  education  was  over,  at  the  early 
age  of  seventeen,  he  was  placed  in  the  severe 
routine  of  a  public  office,  the  India  House,  in  which 
his  father's  interest  lay,  and  continued  there,  rising 
to  a  very  responsible  position,  and  exercising  much 
influence,  from  1823  until  the  dominion  of  the 
Honorable  East  India  Company  came  to  an  end 
in  the  convulsion  of  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  and  the 
government  of  that  vast  dependency  was  transferred 
to  the  Crown.  He  was  offered  then  a  seat  in  the 
Indian  Council,  a  high  and  responsible,  as  well  as 
lucrative,  appointment,  but  retired  instead  from  the 
official  life  which  he  had  entered  so  early,  and  in 
which  he  had  gained  nothing  but  honour.  There  is 
very  little  of  all  this  in  his  autobiography ;  it  was, 
though  full  of  public  importance  and  real  influence, 
but  the  background  of  that  life  of  thought  which 
was  his  element.  Quite  early  in  life  he  became 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'35 


connected  with  the  "Examiner"  already  spoken  of 
injconnection  with  Leigh  Hunt,  one  of  the  first  of 
those  weekly  newspapers  which  combined  literature 
with  politics,  a  liberal  organ  of  great  influence  while 
it  lasted,  and  conducted  with  much  ability,  to 
which  he  was  a  regular  contributor  for  a  long  time  ; 
and  with  the  "Westminster  Review"  also  already 
referred  to,  the  special  representative  of  Bentham 
and  his  school,  of  which  at  a  later  period,  1835,  he 
became  for  some  short  time  the  responsible  editor, 
and  in  which  he  was  for  many  years  deeply  con- 
cerned. His  great  work  on  Logic  was  published  in 
1843,  and  was  at  once  received  as  a  text  book  and 
authority,  as  well  as  the  most  lucid  exposition 
of  a  science  not  usually  attractive  to  the  ordinary 
reader. 

It  was  before  this,  however,  that  Mill  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Carlyle  noted  above,  and  that  an 
incident  occurred  never  to  be  forgotten  in  literary 
history.  He  had  by  this  time  attached  himself  to 
the  lady  then,  and  for  many  years  after,  the  all- 
influential  friend  and  mistress  of  his  thoughts,  and 
afterwards  his  wife — Mrs.  Taylor,  whom  Carlyle 
speaks  of  not  without  a  shade  of  ridicule  as  Pla- 
tonica,  with  a  not  unnatural  scoff  at  the  unusual  re- 
lationship which  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  was 
not  entirely  one  of  honour  and  innocence.  To  her 
Mill  brought,  as  he  brought  everything,  the  manu- 
script of  the  first  volume  of  Carlyle's  French  Rev- 


Cpnnection 
with  the 
"  Exam- 
iner." 


System  of 
"  Logic," 
1843- 


Friendship 
with  the 
Carlyles. 


i36 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Destruction 
of  the  man- 
uscript of 
First  vol.  of 
the  "  French 
Revolu- 
tion. " 


olution,  which  had  been  submitted  to  his  friendly 
criticism  by  his  own  desire.  It  was  at  the  moment 
when  the  Carlyles  were  struggling  to  establish  their 
spare  little  household  in  London,  and  this  book  was 
the  chief  thing  to  which  they  looked  to  produce,  not 
only  a  foundation  of  future  possibilities,  but  actually 
their  daily  bread.  One  evening  Mill  made  his  ap- 
pearance pale  and  haggard  before  the  pair  who  wel- 
comed him  with  their  usual  cordiality.  He  had  the 
most  appalling  story  too  tell.  He  had  taken  the 
manuscript  to  Mrs.  Taylor  and  she  had  left  it  with- 
out special  precaution  on  a  table.  Carlyle  was  a 
new  man,  and  perhaps  his  papers,  the  beginning  of 
a  new  book  which  might  appear  to  the  careless 
critic  as  little  important  as  that  extraordinary  rhap- 
sody of  ' '  Sartor  Resartus, "  which  was  then  appalling 
and  scattering  the  subscribers  to  "Fraser,"  did  not 
seem  to  merit  any  special  precautions.  Mrs.  Taylor's 
housemaid,  naturally  still  more  indifferent  than  her 
mistress,  took  the  scattered  sheets  and  made  them 
useful  in  the  way  of  lighting  her  fires.  The  whole 
volume  was  destroyed  before  it  was  discovered — and 
this  was  the  terrible  tale  which  Mill  had  to  tell. 
Had  it  been  left  to  Carlyle's  biographer  to  imagine 
how  the  confession  was  received,  we  should  prob- 
ably have  had  a  violent  scene  of  reproach  and 
denunciation.  "Begone  in  to  the  eternal  darkness, 
you  !  "  A  throwing  out  of  window,  a  kicking  down- 
stairs of  the  woe-begone  and  conscious  culprit — and 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


nobody  could  have  been  surprised  had  this  been  the 
result.  The  result  was,  however,  that  the  husband 
and  wife,  exchanging  one  look  of  dismay  at  the 
dreadful  news,  immediately  did  their  best  to  forget 
the  effect  of  the  catastrophe  upon  themselves,  and  to 
console  the  unfortunate  man  who  was  overwhelmed 
by  his  share  in  it.  Mill  was  anxious,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, to  make  up  in  every  pecuniary  way  possible 
for  this  incalculable  loss,  and  we  believe  that  after 
some  time  Carlyle  accepted  from  him  a  sum  equiva- 
lent to  its  supposed  market  value,  a  hundred  pounds, 
as  a  loan  (which  was  afterwards  rigorously  repaid), 
to  supply  daily  wants  while  the  first  volume  was  re- 
written ;  a  transaction  calculated  to  make  the  unfor- 
tunate cause  of  this  trouble  feel  more  humiliated  and 
small,  if  possible,  than  before. 

This  tragic  incident  did  not,  however,  interrupt  the 
friendship  on  either  side.  It  could  not  be  expected  to 
have  sweetened  the  intercourse  with  the  lady  Pla- 
tonica,  upon  whom  Mrs.  Carlyle  was  never  unwil- 
ling to  discharge  a  sharp-pointed  arrow  in  passing 
from  her  swift  and  highly-strung  bow. 

Mill's  great  period  of  literary  activity  was  in  the 
early  years  of  her  Majesty's  reign.  His  "System  of 
Logic"  was  followed  by  "Essays  on  some  Unsettled 
Questions  of  Political  Economy"  in  1844;  on  "Land 
Tenure  "in  1847,  and  on  "Political  Economy"  in  1848. 
In  the  year  1851,  her  previous  ties  being  dissolved  by 
death,  he  married  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  fondly  attributed 


The  result. 


"  Principles 
of  Political 
Economy," 
1840. 


His  mar- 
riage. 


'38 


THE   VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Essay  on 
Liberty." 


"  Subjection 
of  Women." 
1869. 


to  her  influence  the  works  which  he  afterwards  pro- 
duced, beginning  with  the  famous  "  Essay  on  Liberty, " 
which  is  perhaps  the  one  of  his  works  most  widely 
known,  and  which  has  influenced  the  greater  number 
of  readers.  No  longer  in  any  point  of  view  academical 
or  scientific,  he  came  by  this  work  into  the  common 
field  of  literature — not  indeed  of  literature  pure  and 
simple,  but  of  that  inspired  by  the  universal  science 
of  abstract  politics  which  is  open  to  all  men.  It  was 
a  work  which  took  the  world  by  storm,  and  set  mul- 
titudes of  young  imaginations  aflame.  His  former 
works  had  established  his  reputation  as  a  thinker,  but 
the  readers  of  a  system  of  Logic  must  always  be 
limited.  The  "  Essay  on  Liberty  "  was  fare  for  all. 
Nothing  more  luminous,  more  eloquent  in  the  moder- 
ation and  grace  of  a  chastened  style, — than  this  ex- 
position of  a  principle,  could  well  be.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  to  many  minds  it  was  a  revelation,  al- 
though not  containing  anything  that  could  be  called 
new. 

Another  work  produced  more  distinctly  under  the 
auspices  of  his  wife,  cannot  be  said  to  have  done  him  so 
much  credit  with  the  world.  The  curious,  impassioned 
book  called  "The  Subjection  of  Women,"  founded 
upon  that  view  which  is  general  to  the  warm  an- 
tagonists of  any  unjust  system  of  laws, — that  all  the 
dreadful  consequences  which  evil-minded  persons 
may  work  in  its  name  are  always  in  active  and  gen- 
eral existence,  unmodified  either  by  the  character  of 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'39 


the  time  or  the  nature  of  things.  It  is  one  of  those 
ways  of  thinking  which  are  called  feminine,  and 
which  are  no  doubt  logical,  but  which  produce  many 
false  conclusions,  and  have  a  general  air  of  specious 
and  fictitious  accuracy  very  exasperating  to  the  reader, 
who  knows  the  argument  to  be  unreal  but  cannot 
prove  it  to  be  false.  "  The  Subjection  of  Women" 
was  written  upon  the  idea  that  all  the  laws  in  the 
statute-book  against  the  independence  and  individ- 
uality of  women  were  rigorously  carried  out,  and 
that  they  had  altogether  escaped  the  operation  of  that 
well-known  habit  of  English  law,  which  is  by  many 
contrivances  and  by  the  continual  action  of  good  sense 
and  natural  feeling  permitted  to  modify  the  letter 
of  the  severest  enactment.  In  the  same  way  there  has 
been  much  fine  writing  and  some  genuine  feeling 
roused  by  a  late  decision  in  respect  to  the  right  of  a 
wife  to  leave  her  husband  when  she  pleases — as  if 
any  legal  right  could  make  it  a  general  thing  for 
wives  to  forsake  their  husbands.  Mill's  work,  how- 
ever, though  it  brought  him  no  credit,  undoubtedly 
acted  with  many  other  arguments  and  proceedings 
equally  unproductive  of  honour  to  the  speakers  and 
writers,  in  producing  those  great  and  beneficial  altera- 
tions and  new  stipulations  in  law  which  have  made 
the  position  of  women  so  much  more  independent 
and  worthy,  and  quenched  so  many  cries  of  well- 
founded  grievance  in  our  own  days.  Mrs.  Mill  died 
in  1858,  and  her  husband  mourned  her  in  the  almost 


A  plea  for 
the  social 
and  political 
rights  of 
women. 


Death  of 
Mrs.  MilL 


140 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Enters  Par- 
liament. 


•'  Utilitari- 
anism,"i863. 
"Positiv- 
ism," 1865. 
"  Examina- 
tion of  Sir 
William 
Hamilton's 
Philoso- 
phy," 1865. 


The 

"  Autobio- 
graphy." 


lyric  sorrow  of  the  latter  portion  of  his  autobiog- 
raphy, remaining  devoted  to  her  memory  during  all 
the  rest  of  his  life  as  he  had  been  devoted  to  her 
influence  and  inspiration  for  many  years  before  she 
became  his  wife. 

His  after  career  was  varied  by  a  short  and  inau- 
spicious entrance  into  public  life.  He  entered  par- 
liament in  1865,  but  remained  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons  only  about  three  years,  and  though  re- 
ceived with  the  respect  due  to  his  great  reputation 
and  powers,  never  attained  any  influence  or  stand- 
ing there  at  all  in  proportion  to  that  reputation.  He 
published  an  exposition  of  "Utilitarianism";  of 
"  Positivism,"  a  collection  of  articles  from  the  Edin- 
burgh and  Westminster  Reviews  ;  an  "Examination 
of  Sir  William  Hamilton's  Philosophy,"  and  other 
smaller  works  in  these  years,  and  while  in  Parlia- 
ment made  some  important  speeches  on  such  sub- 
jects as  the  new  Reform  Bill,  and  the  reduction  of 
the  National  Debt.  But  the  most  important  work  of 
his  ending  life  was  the  "Autobiography,"  which  pre- 
sented him  to  the  world  in  a  light  which  the  philoso- 
pher, the  politician,  the  Utilitarian,  the  greatest  of 
English  Free-thinkers  (so-called),  and  apostle  of 
Negation,  had  never  appeared  in  before  unless  to 
those  who  knew  him  intimately — that  of  a  sensitive, 
gentle,  almost  visionary  being,  warped  by  its  iron 
swaddling  bands  out  of  the  development  natural  to 
it,  contradicted  in  all  its  natural  tendencies  by 


John  Stuart  Mill 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


141 


an  incredible  and  merciless  education,  and  when 
these  bands  were  removed,  making  haste  to  seek 
refuge  in  a  sentimental  subjection  almost  as  wonder- 
ful as  the  preceding  and  involuntary  bondage.  The 
interested  spectator,  looking  on  at  this  remarkable 
self-revelation,  is  tempted  to  believe  that  the  man  so 
twisted  and  swayed  by  external  influences  would 
have  found,  had  he  been  left  to  himself,  a  sustenance 
in  religion,  in  poetry,  in  the  aspirations  of  the  Christ- 
ian faith,  for  which  he  went  wistfully  looking  all 
his  life  but  never  knew  where  to  find.  It  is  not 
often  that  we  find  a  spirit  so  obviously  forced  into  a 
different  mould  from  that  which  was  intended  by 
nature.  Generally  the  mind,  struggling  against 
these  artificial  ligatures,  strikes  into  an  almost  exag- 
geration in  opposition  of  its  own  natural  bent  and 
tendency.  But  Mill  was  seized  upon  in  his  very 
cradle,  and  the  dutifulness  and  mildness  of  his  soul 
helped  to  further  the  aims  of  those  who  worked  into 
this  mould  of  iron  that  ductile  clay. 

He  died  in  Avignon  in  1873,  m  profound  retire- 
ment, never  having  recovered  the  blow  of  his  wife's 
death,  which  had  taken  place  so  many  years  before, 
and  making  of  his  autobiography  a  sort  of  swan- 
song  of  praise  to  her.  A  great  writer,  a  generous 
and  fine  thinker,  a  most  lovable  man,  calling  forth, 
however,  we  think,  not  more  honour  than  pity,  we 
can  scarcely  conclude  this  brief  notice  without  an 
ache  of  the  heart  for  the  many  deprivations  which  his 


Revelation 
of  his  real 
nature  re- 
pressed by 
Utilitarian 
education. 


Died  in 
1873- 


142 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


John  Austin, 
1790-1849. 


Sarah  Aus- 
tin, 1793- 
1867. 


creed,  and  the  ignorance  imposed  upon  him,  caused 
to  his  sensitive  being,  and  a  hope  that  he  found 
something  so  much  "better  than  he  had  ever  dreamt 
of  in  the  darkness  which  was  all  that  Death  promised 
him,  as  to  make  up  for  every  consolation  which  he 
had  not  had  in  his  mortal  career. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  one  of  the  houses  in 
London  into  which  the  Carlyles  where  most  cordially 
received,  was  that  of  the  Austins,  one  of  those  bril- 
liant families  of  which  almost  every  member  has  one 
way  or  other  achieved  distinction.  John  Austin,  the 
head  of  the  house  (born  1790,  died  1849),  a  somewhat 
dreamy  man  of  abstract  mind  but  great  intelligence, 
occupied  for  some  time  one  of  the  chairs  of  law  in 
the  newly  founded  London  University,  and  wrote 
a  well-known  and  now  standard  book  on  Jurispru- 
dence, which  brought  him,  though  slowly,  a  great 
reputation  among  those  qualified  to  understand  it. 
Much  of  his  position  in  society  and  comfort  in  life 
was,  however,  owing  to  his  wife,  born  a  Taylor  of 
Norwich,  of  a  race  which  acquired  unusual  distinc- 
tion, locally  and  socially,  without,  so  far  as  appears, 
any  particular  reason,  except  that  they  were  highly 
intelligent  and  hospitable  people.  Sarah  Austin  (born 
1793,  died  1867),  held  a  special  position  in  literature, 
such  as  at  that  time  was  held  to  be  specially  befitting 
to  a  woman.  She  did  not  pretend  to  be  an  original 
writer,  notwithstanding  some  able  articles  in  the 
"Edinburgh  Review,"  chiefly  on  foreign  subjects,  but 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


she  was  a  translator  of  singular  ability  and  success. 
In  this  way,  she  made  known  many  of  the  more 
serious  works  of  German  literature,  then  so  very  much 
less  understood  than  now,  to  the  English  public,  and 
especially  a  most  laborious  undertaking,  ' '  Ranke's 
Lives  of  the  Popes."  Among  higher  subjects, 
she  was  the  translator  of  the  "Story  without  an 
End."  Her  steady  work  gave  a  sort  of  backbone  of 
support  to  her  less  industrious  though  more  original 
husband,  whose  lectures  she  edited  after  his  death, 
with  devotion  equal  to  that  which  she  had  shown 
him  during  their  long  married  life.  Lucia  Austin 
(182 1-1869),  afterwards  Lady  Duff  Gordon,  the  friend, 
from  her  childhood,  of  Heine,  and  the  author  of  some 
touching  reminiscences  of  that  poet,  as  well  as  of  the 
sparkling  and  delightful  "Letters  from  the  Nile," 
which  is  her  chief  literary  distinction,  was  the  only 
child  of  this  pair.  And  the  mantle  of  those  two 
highly  instructed  and  eloquent  women  has  fallen  in 
this  generation  upon  their  descendant,  Janet  Duff 
Gordon,  Mrs.  Ross,  who  has  with  much  filial  piety 
and  literary  grace  written  memorials  of  both,  in 
which  a  delightful,  and  in  many  respects  touching, 
narrative  of  their  lives  is  to  be  found. 

The  name  of  John  Carlyle,  —  "  the  Doctor," — who 
appears  so  constantly  in  the  life  of  his  distinguished 
brother,  Thomas  Carlyle,  does  not  in  that  work  play 
a  very  elevated  part.  But  he  has  a  certain  place 
of  his  own  in  literature,  through  his  remarkable  and 


Translation 
of  "  Ranke's 
Lives  of  the 
Popes." 


Lucia  Aus- 
tin (Lady 
Duff  Gor- 
don), 1821- 


Letters 
from  the 

Nile." 


John  Car- 
lyle. 


144 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


John  Ster- 
ling, 1806- 
1844- 


almost  literal  translation  in  prose  of  the  "Inferno" 
of  Dante.  He  had  intended  to  translate  the  entire 
poem,  but  only  the  first  part  was  ever  completed  or 
given  to  the  world.  It  is  full  of  curious  power  and 
comprehension  of  the  poet,  strangely  appearing  in  a 
mind  otherwise  anything  but  poetical. 

Another  slighter  and  unimportant  but  pathetic  fig- 
ure, which  comes  to  the  mind  with  the  name  of  Car- 
lyle  and  is  inseparably  associated  with  him,  is  that 
of  John  Sterling,  who  wrote  little  in  his  own  person, 
and  therefore  is  but  lightly  connected  with  literature, 
but  who  had  the  singular  fortune  to  have  two  biog- 
raphies written  of  his  uneventful  life,  one  of  them  in- 
suring him  a  kind  of  immortality  as  being  the  produc- 
tion of  Carlyle  ;  the  other  already  dropped  into  that 
oblivion  whence  it  had  indeed  little  right  ever  to  be 
raised.  He  was  the  son  of  Edward  Sterling,  once 
the  "Thunderer"  of  the  Times,  the  man  under 
whose  influence  that  great  newspaper  became  for  a 
time  the  most  curiously  exact  thermometer  of  public 
feeling  in  London,  if  not  in  England,  and  gained  in 
consequence  a  unique  place  among  newspapers,  the 
tradition  of  which  lasted  for  a  long  time,  even  after 
the  reality  failed.  John  Sterling,  his  son,  was  one 
of  a  band  of  young  men  who  issued  forth  from  Cam- 
bridge at  the  same  time,  and  whose  high  spirituality 
of  mind  and  dissatisfaction  with  the  ordinary  level 
of  religious  thought  and  doctrine,  produced  after- 
wards, chiefly  through  the  leadership  of  Frederick 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'45 


Denison  Maurice,  the  movement  generally  called 
the  Broad  Church.  Sterling  himself,  however,  had 
little  to  do  with  this  movement.  He  took  Holy 
Orders,  rather  from  an  impulse  of  chivalry  and  de- 
sire to  do  what  he  could  for  the  improvement  of  the 
world,  than  any  more  seriously  considered  motive, 
and  was  for  a  short  time  curate  at  Hurstmonceux, 
in  Sussex,  under  his  friend,  Julius  Hare  :  but  re- 
mained for  a  very  short  time  in  that  position,  and 
afterwards,  until  his  early  death,  led  a  vague  sort  of 
literary  life  without  producing  anything  that  is  much 
worthy  of  mention.  He  was  one  of  those  men 
whose  rare  qualities  of  mind  and  personal  utterance 
raise  the  highest  hopes  in  the  minds  of  their  friends, 
and  inspire  with  a  sort  of  vague  expectation,  never 
carried  out,  the  general  public,  which  hears  so  many 
echoes  of  their  names  on  all  sides  without  hearing 
anything  tangible  on  which  to  form  an  opinion.  He 
was  born  in  1806,  and  died  in  1844;  his  "Essays 
and  Tales,  with  Life,  by  Archdeacon  Hare,"  being 
published  in  London,  1848,  while  Carlyle's  amended, 
or  at  least  much  different  account  of  his  life  was 
published  some  years  later.  It  is  no  small  tribute 
to  the  interest  of  his  character  and  being,  that  he 
should  have  so  moved  two  such  differing  men. 

The  name  of  Sterling  introduces  another  group  of 
writers,  some  of  whom  belong  more  appropriately  to 
the  chapter  devoted  to  Theology,  though  the  name  of 
one,  a  precursor  rather  than  actor  in  the  ecclesiastical 

10 


"  Essays  a:id 
Tales,  with 
Life,  by 
Archdeacon 
Hare,"  1848 


146 


THE  VICTORIA*?  AGE  Of 


Julius  Hare; 
1795-1855. 


Augustus 
Hare. 


Wide  ac- 
quaintance 
with  the 
literature  of 
the  modern 
world. 


movement  in  which  the  others  were  engaged,   may 
come  in  best  here. 

Julius  Hare,  born  in  1795,  belonged  to  a  family  dis- 
tinguished by  a  fatal  fluency  in  letter- writing,  so  that 
the  few  facts  in  his  career,  the  few  works  produced 
by  him,  and  his  beautiful  character  and  life,  so  full 
of  every  grace  of  sweetness  and  courtesy,  so  irre- 
proachable and  graceful,  are  swamped  by  the  flood  of 
details,  both  intellectual  and  external,  which  a  remorse- 
less fidelity  has  gathered  together.  His  position, 
or  rather  it  would  be  well  to  say  their  position,  since 
his  name  cannot  be  separated  from  that  of  his  elder 
brother  Augustus,  born  1792,  was  a  peculiar  one. 
Not  only  did  they  belong  to  that  peculiar  class  of 
"  elegant  scholars,"  to  use  an  old  form,  which  has 
come  to  a  new  development  in  this  century  in  the 
universally  cultured,  gentle,  exquisitely  moral  and 
virtuous  University  man,  who  has  now  become  one 
of  the  features  of  English  society,  most  profoundly 
unlike  to  the  Parrs  and  Persons  of  old,  but  their  half 
foreign  breeding  and  acquaintance  with  the  literature 
of  the  modern  world,  especially  the  German,  put  a 
characteristic  difference  between  them  and  their  com- 
peers in  the  earlier  half  of  the  century,  which  could 
scarcely  exist  now  when  European  literature  is  with- 
in everybody's  reach,  and  all  people  of  education  are 
expected  to  know  something  of  Continental  coun- 
tries. The  elegant  vagrancy  of  the  parents  of  these 
two  men,  which  is  evidenced  in  the  birth  of  one  at 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


Rome  and  the  other  near  Bologna,  was  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent kind  from  that  which  carries  ordinary  members 
of  society  now  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
Continent,  in  a  sort  of  whirlwind  of  Anglicism,  re- 
taining their  own  habits,  their  own  surroundings, 
and  their  own  language  wherever  they  go.  The 
young  Hares  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes  Italian 
children  in  their  earliest  years,  and  later  acquired 
a  sort  of  German  nationality  in  the  same  way  at 
Weimar,  in  the  midst  of  the  wonderful  talk  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Goethe  circle.  When  this  early  ex- 
patriation was  over  they  came  back  to  the  studies  of 
English  youth,  in  an  atmosphere  and  among  a  crowd 
of  relations  deeply  imbued  with  religious  thought- 
fulness  and  powers  of  reflection.  They  became 
accordingly,  with  all  these  modes  of  culture  mingling 
in  them,  the  first  models  of  that  exceedingly  pure, 
elevated  and  fine,  but  perhaps  slightly  tedious  type, 
which  has  since  become  an  ideal  of  University  life. 
Their  characteristic  was  thoughtfulness  rather  than 
any  power  of  thought,  and  their  minds  were  so  im- 
bued with  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  thoughts  of  all  other  men  who  have  ever 
reflected  upon  life  and  death,  knowledge  and  igno- 
ance,  that  little  room  was  left  for  any  original  think- 
ing of  their  own. 

Nevertheless  their  joint  work,  "  Guesses  at  Truth, 
by  Two  Brothers,"  which  was  published  in  1827,  and 
of  which  an  enlarged  and  corrected  second  edition 


Guesses  at 
Truth,  by 
Two  Bro- 
thers," 1827, 


148 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Its  quality 
and  style. 


A  beginning 
of  hetero- 
doxy. 


was  one  of  the  notable  books  of  1 838,  the  beginning  of 
our  period,  was  at  that  period  an  important  produc- 
tion. It  is  in  the  shape  of  aphorisms,  some  brief,  as 
becomes  that  form  of  writing,  others  enlarged  into 
short  essays  on  abstract  subjects,  written  well  and 
agreeably,  without  any  special  grace  of  style,  and 
chiefly  notable  in  those  days  for  the  evidence  of  an 
all-pervading  religious  tone,  which  is  unfortunately 
far  from  the  habit  of  present  discursive  thinking.  A 
whole  world  of  difference  in  this  respect  will  be 
observed  by  anyone  who  compares  these  broken 
lights  of  the  reflective  mind  with  the  "Obiter  Dicta," 
for  instance,  of  a  recent  philosophising,  not  unlike  in 
aim  and  principle.  Julius  Hare  was  in  these  early 
days  much  under  the  influence  of  Coleridge,  sharing 
that  semi-adoration  of  the  poet-philosopher  which 
inspired  so  many  young  men  of  the  period.  A  begin- 
ning of  the  heterodoxy  which  was  found  afterwards 
in  Maurice  and  Kingsley  by  the  keen  critics  of  the 
orthodox  schools,  was  no  doubt  beginning  to  de- 
velop mildly  in  the  Sermons  of  both  brothers,  pub- 
lished in  1839  and  1840.  But  they  were  both  clergy- 
men and  most  faithful  sons  of  the  Church  of  England, 
belonging  to  a  highly  characteristic  school  of  her 
mild  and  refined  divines. 

Julius  Hare  was  the  tutor  of  Sterling,  Maurice,  and 
Trench,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  at  Cam- 
bridge. It  was  he  who  induced  the  former  to  enter 
the  Church,  and  become  his  curate  at  Hurstmonceux, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


149 


and  it  was  his  life  of  Sterling  in  which  the  struggle 
of  that  vivacious  spirit  between  Faith  and  Doubt  was 
made  to  occupy  the  foremost  place,  which  called  forth 
the  more  remarkable  life  by  Carlyle.  He  died  Rector 
of  Hurstmonceux,  a  family  living,  and  Archdeacon 
of  Lewes,  in  1855. 

In  the  circle  of  these  greater  names,  though  but 
faintly  connected  with  them,  occur  those  of  Albany 
William  Fonblanque,  chiefly  known  as  editor  of  the 
"Examiner"  newspaperalready  referred  to,  to  which 
Carlyle,  Mill,  and  Stirling  contributed  ;  and  William 
Johnson  Fox,  who  occupied  a  similar  post  in  the 
"Westminster  Review." 

The  former,  Fonblanque,  was  a  vigorous  and 
graceful  writer,  though  the  articles  which  made  the 
fortune  of  the  "Examiner"  and  seemed  to  open  in 
that  paper  a  new  genre  in  journalism,  did  not  stand,  as 
we  hear  on  the  authority  of  Lord  Macaulay,  the  test 
of  re-publication  in  a  book.  He  was  also  a  contrib- 
utor to  the  "Westminster  Review,"  but  his  name  is 
chiefly  connected  with  the  paper  which  was  in  reality 
his  creation,  and  which  attracted  the  highest  interest 
over  the  country,  from  the  highest  Liberal  circles  to 
the  farm  kitchen  in  Dumfriesshire,  where  Thomas 
Carlyle's  family  looked  with  excitement  for  every 
new  number.  Its  success  and  the  powerful  support 
it  gave  to  Liberal  principles,  secured  in  those  days, 
when  the  support  of  literature  was  looked  upon  by 
successive  governments  as  of  more  importance  to 


Lesser 
writers  on 
political  and 
theosophical 
subjects. 

Albany 
William 
Fonblanque. 


His  work 
principally 
in  connec- 
tion with  the 
"Exam- 
iner." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


W.  J.  Fox. 


As  a  min- 
ister. 


the  State  than  it  is  now,  the  attention  of  the  Whig 
leaders,  and  Fonblanque  received  an  appointment  as 
chief  of  the  Statistical  Department  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,. a  not  unsuitable  post  for  a  writer  on  subjects 
chiefly  political.  He  died  in  1872.  The  "  Examiner  " 
survived  for  a  considerable  time,  but  never  with  any- 
thing of  the  power  and  authority  that  it  had  in  his 
day. 

The  life  of  W.  J.  Fox,  once  a  familiar  name  in  the 
busy  annals  of  his  time,  has  fallen  more  completely 
out  of  knowledge.  It  has  been  recalled,  however,  to 
the  reader  of  to-day,  by  the  recently  published  life 
of  Robert  Browning,  in  which  he  appears  as  the  first 
critic  and  almost  patron  of  the  new  poet.  His  life 
was  a  curious  one,  full  of  many  vicissitudes.  He 
rose  from  the  humblest  circumstances,  educating  him- 
self by  sheer  energy  and  determination,  and  press- 
ing on  from  the  position  of  an  errand  boy  to  that  of 
the  minister  of  a  dissenting  congregation,  with  little 
help  except  from  his  own  exertions.  Literature  was 
the  staff  by  which  he  supported  and  pushed  himself 
on  to  chapel  after  chapel,  from  the  humility  of  a 
little  Bethel  in  Chichester  to  a  semi-fashionable  pul- 
pit in  London,  where  his  eloquence  attracted  many 
hearers.  He  had  by  this  time  become  a  Unitarian, 
adopting  a  creed  always  popular  with  the  speculative, 
the  resource  of  so  many  clever  minds  who  wish  to 
preserve  a  form  of  religion  ;  but  even  in  the  freedom 
of  that  un-rigid  faith  did  not  find  range  enough,  and 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


finally,  after  a  good  deal  of  literary  work,  threw  him- 
self into  politics.  He  became  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  Oldham  in  1847,  and  as  such  his  name 
was  very  well  known  for  a  number  of  years  to  the 
readers  of  the  debates.  He  continued  to  write  for 
the  newspapers  until  his  death  in  1864,  but  has  left 
nothing  in  literature,  except  by  his  connection  with 
greater  names,  to  preserve  any  memory  of  his  own. 
There  cannot  be  said  to  be  even  an  artificial  tie 
between  the  popular  writer  and  well-known  man  of 
whom  we  are  about  to  speak,  and  those  above  re- 
corded, except  that  he  was  contemporary,  though 
younger,  with  most  of  them,  and  that  his  produc- 
tions are  so  varied  that  it  is  difficult  to  put  him  in  any 
distinct  class  of  his  own.  He  was  one  of  the  class 
of  writers  whose  primary  occupation  is  official  life, 
the  restricted  (as  we  should  say)  existence  of  the 
public  office  ;  though  among  them  has  arisen  so  re- 
markable and  important  a  writer  as  John  Stuart  Mill, 
a  poet  like  Henry  Taylor,  a  biographer  like  Sped- 
ding  ;  that  curious  and  unlovely  compiler  of  material 
for  history,  Henry  Greville ;  the  excellent  writer, 
critic,  and  editor,  successor  of  Jeffrey,  still  happily 
with  us,  Henry  Reeve,  the  editor  of  the  "Edinburgh 
Review."  Arthur  Helps,  the  subject  of  the  present 
notice,  a  man  who  has  produced  almost  as  much  as 
the  whole  of  them  put  together,  though  with  very 
varying  success,  was  born  in  1817,  educated  at  Eton 
and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  was  the 


M.  P.  for 

Oldham, 
1847. 


Men  who 
have  arisen 
from  official 
life. 


Sir  Arthur 
Helps,  1817- 
1873- 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Essays 
written  in 
the  Intervals 
of  Busi- 
ness," 1841. 
"  Claims  of 
Labour," 
1844. 

"  Friends  in 

Council," 

'847-51- 


A  new  view 
of  old  truths 


contemporary  and  friend  of  Lord  Tennyson,  as  well 
as  of  many  other  well-known  men,  and  a  member 
of  the  "Apostles  "  Society.  He  began  life  as  secretary 
to  several  Ministers  in  succession,  and  early  took  up 
that  crutch  of  literature  which  seems  to  come  so 
natural  to  men  in  his  position.  "  Essays  written  in 
the  Intervals  of  Business,"  published  in  1847;  "Claims 
of  Labour,"  1844,  were  his  first  productions.  In  1847 
he  began  the  publication  of  "Friends  in  Council," 
the  work  upon  which  his  reputation  is  founded.  It  is  a 
prolonged  discussion  of  the  questions  most  popular  or 
most  likely  to  move  society,  carried  on  by  a  succession 
of  interlocutors,  the  caustic  and  critical  Ellesmere  be- 
ing the  chief  speaker.  It  was  in  its  time  read  every- 
where and  re-discussed  on  all  hands,  and  is  the  kind 
of  book  which  affords  an  always  agreeable  fare  for 
the  mildly  intellectual,  who  love  to  feel  themselves 
associated  with  high  thinking,  and  capable  of  it, 
without  too  great  a  strain  upon  their  intelligence,  or 
necessity  of  an  understanding  beyond  the  level  of  the 
ordinary  mind.  To  the  mass  of  readers  the  debates 
and  arguments  of  the  "Friends,"  who  turned  over 
so  many  subjects,  presented  a  new  view  of  old  truths, 
which  gave  to  the  most  venerable  questions  an  air  of 
novelty,  and  even  gentle  dulness  was  able  to  believe 
itself  victorious  in  argument  when  it  agreed  with 
one  or  other  of  the  combatants.  These  combatants 
were  not  too  sharply  characterised  or  made  too 
boldly  into  living  personages  :  there  was  even  a  lady 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'53 


among  them  kept  to  a  strictly  feminine  position  in 
the  courteous  strife  ;  and  occasionally  a  touch  of 
story  by  way  of  explaining  the  position  which  the 
sceptic  took  in  respect  to  most  human  affairs  or  the 
amiability  of  his  more  Christian  antagonist ;  but  noth- 
ing that  could  impair  the  dignity  of  the  abstract  or 
profane  philosophy  with  any  semblance  of  romance. 
The  book  was  not  addressed  to  either  of  the  ex- 
tremes of  society,  to  specially  literary  circles,  or  to 
the  butterfly  reader  who  skims  over  everything  pre- 
sented to  him.  It  addressed  itself  to  the  intellectual 
bourgeoisie,  so  to  speak,  the  middle  class  of  readers 
to  whom  the  commonplace,  clad  in  a  specious  robe 
of  seemly  words,  is  always  more  dear  than  anything 
else,  and  who  are  capable  of  making  the  fortune  of 
any  author  who  trusts  in  them.  ' '  Friends  in  Council " 
went  accordingly  into  edition  after  edition.  If  it 
has  a  little  faded  no  w,  after  nearly  fifty  years,  that  is 
because  the  tone  of  such  reasonings  has  changed 
considerably,  even  for  that  respectable  and  con- 
servative crowd. 

Sir  Arthur  Helps,  who  became  aK.C.B.  in  1872,  and 
received  from  Oxford  the  honor  of  D.C.L.  in  1864, 
produced  a  numerous  list  of  other  works,  some  of  supe- 
rior quality.  "The  History  of  the  Spanish  Conquest 
in  America,"  published  in  1855-61,  was  a  painstaking 
and  careful  piece  of  work.  Of  the  same  order  was  the 
"Conquerors  of  the  New  World,"  published  between 
1841  and  1855  and  afterwards  brought  out  sepa- 


Addressed 
to  the  intel- 
lectual hour- 
goisie. 


"  History 
the  Spanish 
Conquest  in 
America," 

1855-1861. 


"  Conquer- 
ors of  the 
New 
World," 
1841-1855- 


154 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


'  Realmah." 


Editor  of  the 
"  Speeches 
and  Public 
Addresses  of 
the  Prince 
Consort." 
And  of  her 
Majesty's 
own  works, 
"  The  Jour- 
nals of  Life 
in  the  High- 
lands." 


George  Bor- 
row, 1803- 


rately  in  the  form  of  independent  lives  of  Columbus, 
Pizarro,  Cortes,  etc.  He  was  also  the  author  of  one 
novel,  "Realmah,  "a  romance  of  the  "Rasselas"  kind, 
much  expanded  and  adapted  to  the  readers  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  who  demand  details  and  prob- 
abilities not  thought  of  in  an  older  time ;  and  several 
plays,  none  of  which,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  were 
ever  produced  on  the  stage.  In  1862,  while  he  held 
the  position  of  Clerk  of  the  Privy  Council,  a  post  which 
brought  him  within  the  personal  acquaintance  of  the 
Queen,  he  was  chosen  by  her  Majesty  to  revise  and 
edit  the  collected  Speeches  and  Public  Addresses  of 
the  Prince  Consort ;  and  was  afterwards  charged  with 
the  same  office  in  respect  to  one  of  her  Majesty's  own 
works — "The  Journals  of  Life  in  the  Highlands," 
which  were  published  in  1868  and  1869.  His  refined 
mind,  excellent  taste  and  experience,  made  this  choice 
a  happy  one,  as  it  was  a  distinction  to  his  waning 
life,  which  closed  amid  an  unusual  activity  of  literary 
labor  in  1875.  His  position  in  the  world  of  letters 
was  something  of  a  paradox  :  he  never  rose  to  the 
highest  sphere,  yet  was  a  universal  favourite  of  the 
public,  respected  and  merited  every  respect ;  and 
while  treating  the  loftiest  subjects  in  a  manner  con- 
sidered by  a  mass  of  readers  both  original  and  striking, 
he  never  really  in  any  of  his  works  rose  above  the 
region  of  the  respectable  commonplace. 

George  Borrow,  whose  name  we  place  here  for  a 
reason  very  similar  to  that  which  has  added  Sir  Arthur 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


155 


Helps  to  the  chapter,  because  it  is  very  difficult  to 
classify  him,  was  as  wildly  irregular  in  his  career  as 
our  previous  subject  was  the  reverse.  He  was  one 
of  the  free-lances  of  literature,  master  of  a  sparkling 
and  picturesque  style,  as  of  an  adventurous  and  rov- 
ing temper  by  stress  of  nature,  and  writing  one  of 
the  most  charming  of  discursive  books  of  travel,  as 
it  might  be  by  chance,  with  few  traditions  or  prognos- 
tics in  his  favour.  He  was  born  in  Norfolk  in  1803, 
and  was  educated  at  Norwich,  where  he  received  some 
countenance  and  encouragement  from  the  much 
celebrated  society  of  intellectual  persons  who  made 
of  that  picturesque  town  a  little  centre  of  intellectual 
activity  in  the  beginning  of  the  century.  After  an 
attempt  to  settle  in  a  solicitor's  office,  a  sphere  which 
was  not  tempting  to  him,  Borrow  threw  himself  into 
that  distressing  kind  of  literary  work  which  is  pursued 
by  so  many  who  have  little  qualification  for  it,  and 
whose  struggling  heads  are  often  never  seen  above 
water  during  laborious  years  of  an  unthankful  career. 
After  thus  working  for  a  long  time  unknown — it  is 
said  that  among  other  things,  he  was  once  employed 
upon  an  edition  of  the  Newgate  Calendar — he  was 
engaged  as  a  travelling  agent  by  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  in  the  fulfillment  of  his 
duties  travelled  through  Russia  and  Spain.  The 
record  of  the  latter  journey,  "The  Bible  in  Spain," 
is  one  of  the  liveliest  and  most  delightful  of  books  of 
travel,  full  of  graphic  sketches  of  a  then  very  little 


A  free-lance 
of  literature. 


'  The  Bible 
in  Spain," 


156 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  predilec- 
tion for  the 
gipsies. 


"  Laven- 
gro." 


"  Romany 

Rye." 

"  Romano 

Lavo-Lil." 


"  The  G 

sies  in 
Spain." 


known  country,  and  revelations  of  a  genial,  daring, 
adventurous  nature,  such  perhaps  as  has  seldom  been 
employed  on  the  errands  of  a  religious  society.  That 
he  had  the  highest  interest  and  devotion  however  in 
that  work,  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  when  in  St. 
Petersburg  he  translated  the  New  Testament  into 
Manchoo,  and  afterwards  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  into 
the  language  of  the  gipsies,  for  which  wandering 
people  he  seems  to  have  been  seized  with  the  strongest 
predilection,  so  that  the  latter  part  of  his  life  was  en- 
tirely given  up  to  them.  ' '  The  Bible  in  Spain, "  which 
is  the  work  by  which  his  name  is  likely  to  be  remem- 
bered, was  published  in  1842.  After  this  his  life  and 
his  productions  take  another  colour.  ' '  Lavengro, "  a 
partly  autobiographic  work,  in  which  the  wild  people 
with  whom  he  had  identified  himself  play  the  chief 
part,  it  being  the  story  of  a  gentleman  who  joins  the 
wandering  tribes.  "Romany  Rye,"  a  gipsy  story, 
"Romano  Lavo-Lil," a  dictionary  of  the  gipsy  lan- 
guage, show  by  their  names  alone  the  direction  of 
his  thoughts.  ' '  The  Gipsies  in  Spain, "  preceded  his 
account  of  his  adventures  in  the  work  of  Bible  dis- 
tribution. The  adventurous  nature  of  the  man  found 
an  outlet  in  this  curious  adoption  of  the  interests  and 
companionship  of  so  peculiar  a  people.  But  his  works 
upon  this  subject,  though  novel  and  strange  and  re- 
taining much  charm  of  style  and  personality,  do  not 
come  up  to  the  charm  of  his  great  work  as  a  Bible- 
agent  He  died  in  1881 — little  known,  or  rather 
dropped  altogether  out  of  the  knowledge  of  the  world. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


157 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY,  AND  OF  OTHER  HIS- 
TORIANS AND  BIOGRAPHERS  IN  THE  EARLY  PART  OF  THE 
REIGN. 

IT  is  hard  to  conceive  a  stronger  contrast  to  the 
rugged  and  imposing  figure  of  Carlyle  than  is  pre- 
sented by  the  other  brilliant  prose  writer  whose  fame 
was  already  becoming  known  far  and  wide  at  her 
Majesty's  accession,  chiefly  through  his  political 
work.  In  appearance,  as  in  mind,  in  thought,  pur- 
pose, and  style,  they  are  as  far  apart  as  the  two  poles. 
It  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  make  anything 
like  a  heroic  figure  of  Macaulay,  or  to  surround  him 
with  even  pseudo-romantic  attributes  ;  and,  fortu- 
nately for  him,  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  the 
most  indiscreet  admirer  to  give  any  but  a  pleasant 
picture  of  his  domestic  relations.  He  is  perhaps  to 
some  people  the  less  interesting  for  being  a  model  of 
all  the  domestic  virtues ;  indeed,  an  eminent  writer 
of  the  present  day  has  expressed  his  opinion  that  he 
was  too  good  for  any  possibility  of  greatness.  In 
thought  lay  perhaps  the  greatest  difference  of  all. 
Not  that  Macaulay  was  disinclined  to  hero-worship 
of  a  kind,  though  the  characters  he  would  have 


Contrast 
between 
Carlyle  and 
Macaulay. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Macaulay's 
love  of 
history. 


selected  for  that  cult  would  scarcely  have  been  Car- 
lyle's  favourites,  but  in  every  other  respect  their 
methods  of  thought  were  as  different  as  Macaulay's 
polished  sentences  are  opposed  to  the  dithyrambic 
utterances  of  the  prophet  of  Chelsea.  Metaphysics 
Macaulay  loathed ;  and,  though  there  might  be  some 
sympathy  between  him  and  Carlyle  in  their  common 
delight  in  history,  their  predilection  was  prompted 
by  entirely  different  aims  and  worked  out  entirely 
different  effects.  Macaulay  loved  history,  as  one 
loves  Shakespeare  ;  it  was  to  him,  in  the  first  and 
highest  respect,  an  unending  series  of  scenes  enacted 
by  really  living  personages  with  whom  he  sympa- 
thised or  differed  as  he  might  have  done  with  his 
personal  friends  or  the  political  characters  of  his  day. 
The  great  charm  to  him  was  in  the  story,  a  story  of 
matchless  interest  and  eternal  freshness  from  the 
thousand  various  lights  in  which  it  might  be  studied, 
not  an  elaborate  lesson  on  profound  philosophical 
truths  delivered  ex  cathedra  Nature.  And  if  he  drew 
lessons  for  the  day  from  his  historical  studies,  they 
were  not  concerned  with  abstract  principles,  with 
the  cruelty  and  foolishness  of  one  half  of  the  human 
race  or  the  subjection  and  misery  of  the  other,  or 
with  elementary  truths  which  might  have  attracted 
attention  "  at  the  court  of  Nimrod  or  Chedorlaomer," 
but  were  rather  received  as  practical  teaching  of 
political  justice  and  expediency  such  as  might  be 
suited  to  the  most  modern  questions. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


Thomas  Babington  Macaulay  was  born  at  Rothley 
Temple  in  Leicestershire  in  the  year  1800.  His 
father,  Zachary  Macaulay,  was  an  ardent  abolitionist, 
and  secretary  to  the  company  formed  by  that  party 
for  establishing  colonies  of  emancipated  negroes  on 
the  west  coast  of  Africa.  Of  Tom  Macaulay's  child- 
hood many  curious  stories  are  told, — of  the  preco- 
cious learning  with  which  he  not  only  undertook  but 
carried  out  a  "  Compendium  of  Universal  History," 
which  in  his  mother's  opinion  gave  "  a  tolerably  con- 
nected view  of  the  leading  events  from  the  Creation 
to  the  present  time, " — of  his  poem  in  the  style  of  the 
"Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel," — his  hymns,  which 
gained  the  approbation  of  no  less  a  person  than  Mrs. 
Hannah  More,  and  his  odd  sententious  speech.  He 
was  educated  originally  at  a  small  school  at  Little  Shel- 
ford,  near  Cambridge,  and  afterwards  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Cambridge.  While  at  the  university  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  speaker  at  the  Union  and  also 
by  his  contributions  to  Charles  Knight's  ' '  Quarterly, " 
started  about  this  time  with  Praed,  Macaulay,  Moul- 
trie,  Walker,  and  the  Coleridges,  as  its  principal  con- 
tributors. This  small  periodical  excited  a  good  deal 
of  kindly  notice,  and  was  favourably  mentioned  by 
Christopher  North  in  the  "Noctes"  as  a  "gentle- 
manly miscellany,  got  together  by  a  clan  of  young 
scholars,  who  look  upon  the  world  with  a  cheerful 
eye,  and  all  its  on-goings  with  a  spirit  of  hopeful 
kindness."  Among  Macaulay's  contributions  were 


Thomas 
Babington 
Macaulay, 
1800-1857. 


Precocious 
learning  and 
great 
memory. 


iGo 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Ivry." 


Restores 

family 

fortunes. 


the 


his  well-known  poem  of  "Ivry"  and  many  other 
pieces  of  verse,  including  some  amatory  lines  in  the 
first  number  which  so  shocked  his  father — who  for- 
tunately for  Tom  was  unaware  of  the  authorship — 
that  he  forbade  him  to  have  anything  more  to  do 
with  the  publication.  Fortunately,  the  decorous  dul- 
ness  of  some  succeeding  numbers  appeased  the  pa- 
rental wrath,  and  Macaulay  was  allowed  to  take  up 
his  pen  again.  His  principal  prose  contribution  was 
a  "Conversation  between  Mr.  Abraham  Cowley  and 
Mr.  John  Milton  touching  the  great  Civil  War,"  of 
which  the  author  himself  thought  highly,  and  not 
without  reason.  The  "Quarterly  Magazine"  did 
not  have  a  very  long  existence,  coming  to  an  end  in 
its  second  year,  owing  to  disputes  among  the  con- 
tributors. 

Meanwhile  Zachary  Macaulay,  who  had  set  up  in 
business  with  his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Babington, 
as  an  African  merchant,  had  met  with  reverses,  his 
mind  being  too  much  occupied  by  the  anti-slavery 
cause  to  pay  a  due  attention  to  business,  and  his 
partner  being  hardly  equal  to  the  conduct  of  affairs 
of  such  magnitude.  When  Tom  Macaulay  left  col- 
lege, he  found  his  father  practically  ruined,  and 
accepted  the  situation  with  perfect  calmness  and  the 
determination  to  set  matters  right  again  by  his  own 
exertions,  which,  impossible  as  it  seemed,  he  man- 
aged to  achieve  in  a  few  years  with  the  help  of  his 
brother  Henry.  His  support  of  his  family,  however, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


161 


was  not  limited  to  material  services  of  this  descrip- 
tion ;  the  charm  of  his  presence  among  them  seems 
to  have  done  more  than  years  of  unselfish  toil  on 
their  behalf  could  have  effected  to  cheer  and  com- 
fort their  despondency.  His  attachment  to  his 
brothers  and  sisters,  especially  the  latter,  was  de- 
voted and  reciprocal,  and  even  the  silent,  austere 
father,  broken  down  as  he  was  by  this  last  calamity, 
felt  revived  and  encouraged  by  the  presence  of  the 
son,  who  could  talk  politics  with  him  over  the  break- 
fast table.  A  sketch  given  of  him  a  short  time  be- 
fore by  his  friend,  Praed,  may  not  be  uninteresting. 
He  is  described  as 

"  A  short  manly  figure,  marvellously  upright,  with  a  bad  neck- 
cloth, and  one  hand  in  his  waistcoat  pocket.  Of  regular  beauty 
he  had  little  to  boast ;  but  in  faces  where  there  is  an  expression 
of  great  power,  or  of  great  good  humour,  or  both,  you  do  not 
regret  its  absence." 

The  homely  features  are  said,  indeed,  to  have  been 
so  thoroughly  lit  up  by  anything  that  awoke  his  in- 
terest, especially  by  that  enthusiasm  of  talk  which 
was  his  chief  delight,  as  to  compensate  the  absence 
of  natural  beauty. 

To  put  himself  in  the  way  of  doing  something  for 
himself  and  his  family,  Macaulay  began  to  study  for 
the  bar,  to  which  he  was  called  in  1826.  He  was, 
however,  perhaps  more  fitted  to  succeed  in  the  world 
of  literature,  and,  in  this  profession,  an  unexpected 
prospect  now  opened  before  him.  A  year  or  so  be- 


His  persona! 
appearance. 


Called  to 
the  bar, 
1826. 


1 62 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Macaulay 
becomes  a 
contributor 
to  the 
"  Edin- 
burgh." 


"  MUton  " 
suggested  by 
"  De  Doc- 
trina  Christ- 
iana." 


The  profes- 
sion of  lite- 
rature now 
open  to 
Macaulay. 


fore,  Jeffrey  had  written  to  a  friend  in  London  to 
make  inquiries  concerning  any  clever  young  man  of 
Whig  principles  who  could  be  found  to  assist  him, 
as  all  the  young  men  of  Edinburgh  were  Tories. 
Macaulay  was  pitched  upon  as  a  likely  contributor, 
and  exerted  himself  to  produce  an  article  that  would 
satisfy  the  dreaded  editor  of  the  ' '  Edinburgh. "  The 
result  was  his  essay  on  Milton,  suggested  by  Charles 
Sumner's  edition  of  the  newly  discovered  treatise, 
"De  Doctrin a  Christiana."  We  do  not  profess  any 
particular  admiration  for  this  paper,  which  appears 
to  us  to  be  marked  by  a  flashy  and  florid  exuberance 
of  diction  which  we  are  not  accustomed  to  find  in 
his  "Essays,"  and  a  general  air  of  immaturity  not 
unnatural  to  his  age,  and  perhaps  increased  by  a 
measure  of  timidity  in  a  young  author  approaching 
for  the  first  time  one  of  the  great  pachas  of  literature, 
though  we  admit  that  timidity  was  not  an  ordinary 
characteristic  of  Macaulay.  The  article,  however, 
was  received  with  immense  applause  on  all  sides, 
Jeffrey  being  particularly  enthusiastic.  "I  cannot 
conceive,"  he  wrote  to  Macaulay,  "where  you 
picked  up  that  style." 

The  path  of  literature  was  now  open  to  Macaulay, 
but  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  he  followed  it  with 
great  success  for  the  next  year  or  two.  With  the 
temerity  of  an  untried  writer,  he  sought  someone  to 
attack  whom  wiser  men  than  he  admired.  The 
Utilitarian  school  of  philosophy  offered  a  conspicuous 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


163 


ofo 


and  easy  mark,  and  against  this  he  directed  the 
whole  force  of  his  pen  in  a  series  of  articles  which  he 
afterwards  regarded  with  a  certain  shame  and  re- 
fused to  republish.  The  objectionable  philosophy 
including  in  his  mind  the  philosophers,  he  delivered 
a  similar  onslaught  against  James  Mill's  "History 
British  India, "  for  which,  in  the  preface  to  his  collected 
"Essays,"  he  afterwards  made  a  manly  apology, 
congratulating  himself  on  the  fact  which  he  insisted 
"  ought  to  be  known,  that  Mr.  Mill  had  the  generosity, 
not  only  to  forgive,  but  to  forget  the  unbecoming 
acrimony  with  which  he  had  been  assailed,  and  was, 
when  his  valuable  life  closed,  on  terms  of  cordial 
friendship  with  his  assailant."  Indeed  Macaulay, 
though  not  a  malevolent,  or  even  a  naturally  unchari- 
table man,  was  too  ready  to  form  an  unkindly  judg- 
ment of  his  political  adversaries.  The  opinion  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  expressed  by  him  in  a  letter  to  Macvey 
Napier,  astounds  us  by  its  narrowness  and  prejudice, 
and  we  are  certain  that  if  anyone  had  told  him  that 
his  constant  opponent,  Crocker,  had  any  one  good 
quality  in  his  composition,  honest,  kind-hearted 
Macaulay  would  have  been  quite  unable  to  believe 
it.  To  the  enemy  who  made  amends  he  could,  in- 
deed, be  reconciled.  His  fury  at  the  attacks  made  up- 
on him  in  "Blackwood"  expressed  itself  in  a  studied 
affectation  of  scorn  and  that  rueful  laugh  which 
is  described  in  un classical  English  as  proceeding  from 
the  wrong  side  of  the  mouth ;  but  when  his  old  enemy, 


Writings 
against 
the  Utilita- 
rian school 
of  philoso- 
phy. 


nslaught 
against 
Mill's  "  His- 
tory  of 
British  In- 
dia," and  his 
subsequent 
apology. 


Narrowness 
and  preju- 
dice against 
political  ad- 
versaries. 


164 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Machiavelli, 
1827. 


"  Essay  on 
Hallam's 
Constitu- 
tional His- 
tory," 1828. 


Enters  Par- 
liament as 
member  for 
Calne,  1830. 


First  speech 
on  Reform 
establishes 
his  fame  as  a 
parliament- 
ary orator. 


Wilson,  to  whom  such  magnanimity  was  no  effort, 
gave  unmingled  praise  to  the  "Lays  of  Ancient 
Rome,"  Macaulay  was  most  anxious  that  he  should 
be  assured  of  the  author's  appreciation  of  the  criticism. 
However,  Macaulay 's  polemics  were  not  his  only, 
nor  his  best,  work  in  the  first  few  years  of  his  writing 
for  the  ' '  Edinburgh. "  In  1 8  2  7  appeared  his  masterly 
study  of  Machiavelli,  perhaps  chiefly  remembered 
for  the  almost  casuistical  ingenuity  of  his  apology 
for  that  great  writer's  cynical  theories  regarding 
treachery  and  assassination.  The  following  year 
was  marked  by  his  admirable  essay  on  Hallam's 
"Constitutional  History." 

In  the  good  old  days  of  patronage,  literary  merit 
had  fifty  times  the  chance  of  recognition  that  it  can 
possibly  have  now,  and  Macaulay  was  not  long  in 
receiving  a  substantial  token  of  the  admiration  felt 
for  his  genius.  In  1828  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Lord 
Lyndhurst,  appointed  him  to  a  Commissionership  of 
Bankruptcy.  Two  years  later  Lord  Lansdowne, 
having  a  pocket  borough  to  bestow,  thought  it  could 
not  be  better  represented  than  by  this  clever  young 
literary  man,  who  accordingly  entered  Parliament  as 
member  for  Calne  in  1830.  His  first  speech  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  on  the  question  of  Reform, 
established  his  fame  as  a  parliamentary  orator.  Per- 
haps the  greatest  tribute  to  the  position  which  he  at 
once  acquired  in  the  House  was  the  fact  that  no 
speech  of  Macaulay's  was  allowed  to  pass  without 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'65 


an  answer,  a  leading  debater  of  the  Opposition  al- 
ways rising  to  reply  when  he  sat  down.  A  bill  was 
brought  in  about  this  time  to  reform  the  Bankruptcy 
system,  which,  among  other  changes,  destroyed  the 
small  office  held  by  Macaulay  ;  he  however  voted  for 
the  bill,  which  was  passed.  In  1 83  2  he  was  appointed 
Secretary  to  the  East  Indian  Board  of  Control,  and 
two  years  later  was  offered  a  post  on  the  Supreme 
Council  for  India,  with  a  large  salary,  which,  though 
he  had  just  been  returned  to  the  reformed  Parlia- 
ment for  the  new  constituency  of  Leeds,  he  did  not 
feel  justified  in  refusing.  He  therefore  sailed  for 
India  in  1834  and  remained  there  for  four  years. 
His  chief  work  while  in  Calcutta  was  done  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Committee  of  Public  Instruction,  and  of  the 
committee  which  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  Penal 
Code,  and  a  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure.  The  former 
code,  in  the  preparation  of  which  he  took  much  the 
greatest  share,  though  it  is  now  believed  that  his 
colleagues,  especially  Sir  John  Macleod,  rendered 
him  considerable  assistance,  is  one  of  his  most  en- 
during titles  to  fame.  During  the  period  of  his  ex- 
patriation, he  continued  to  contribute  to  the  "Edin- 
burgh Review  "  the  essays  upon  Sir  James  Mackin- 
tosh's "History  of  the  Revolution,"  and  upon  Lord 
Bacon. 

A  great  grief  awaited  Macaulay  when  he  returned 
home  full  of  joy  and  hope  to  those  whom  he  had 
left  behind.  The  household  had  been  a  sad  one  in 


Appointed 
to  the 
Supreme 
Council  for 
India. 


Sails  for  In- 
dia, 1834. 


The  Indian 
Penal  Code 
one  of  his 
most  endur- 
ing titles  to 
fame. 


Essays  on 
Sir  James 
Mackin- 
tosh's 

"  History  of 
the  Revolu- 
tion," and 
upon  Lord 
Bacon. 


Return  from 
India,  1838. 


i66 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Zachary 
Macaulay's 
death 
before  his 
son's  return. 


Essay  on  Sir 

William 

Temple. 

Resides  in 
Italy  for 
some 
months. 


Trenchant 
criticism  of 
Gladstone's 
treatise  on 
the  relations 
of  Church 
and  State. 


his  absence.  "It  is  as  if  the  sun  had  deserted  the 
earth,"  wrote  one  of  his  sisters,  while  he  was  away  ; 
and  Macaulay  himself  felt  the  separation  as  keenly, 
though  his  incessant  toil  in  India  was  on  behalf  of 
those  he  loved,  to  restore  the  fallen  fortunes  of  his 
family.  As  soon  as  he  had  conquered  in  his  struggle 
to  attain  this  end,  he  returned  to  England  with  "a 
small  independence,  but  still  an  independence;  "  but 
the  home  he  arrived  at  was  a  house  of  mourning. 
Worn  out  in  mind  and  body,  with  the  bitter  feeling 
to  one  who  had  been  a  man  of  action,  of  helpless- 
ness and  dependence,  even  on  his  own  son,  allying 
itself  with  his  bodily  ailments,  Zachary  Macaulay 
had  died  about  a  month  before  his  son's  return.  It 
was,  perhaps,  to  distract  his  mind  from  this  sorrow 
that  Macaulay,  after  a  few  weeks'  stay  in  England, 
during  which  he  dashed  off  one  of  his  most  brilliant 
essays,  that  on  Sir  William  Temple,  for  the  "Edin- 
burgh, "betook  himself  to  Italy,  where  he  remained  for 
some  months.  On  his  return,  early  in  1 839,  he  at  once 
devoted  himself  to  his  work  with  renewed  energy. 
His  first  duty  was  to  the  "Edinburgh,"  for  which  he 
wrote  a  trenchant,  yet  not  unkindly,  criticism  of  a 
somewhat  reactionary  treatise  on  the  relations  of 
Church  and  State,  by  "  A  young  man  of  unblemished 
character  and  of  distinguished  Parliamentary  talents, 
the  rising  hope  of  the  stern,  unbending  Tories," — 
the  young  member  for  Newark,  William  Ewart  Glad- 
tone.  Macaulay  speaks  with  some  severity  of  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


167 


views  expressed  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  but  kindly  of  the 
young  man  himself;  he  was  too  good  a  judge  of 
men  to  harbour  any  prejudice  against  the  extreme 
views  of  youthful  genius.  In  the  same  year,  Mac- 
aulay  was  invited  to  stand  for  Edinburgh,  and 
was  returned  practically  without  opposition.  Lord 
Melbourne,  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  day,  was  glad 
to  strengthen  a  fallen  Government  by  the  support  of 
so  brilliant  a  debater,  and  Macaulay  was  appointed 
Secretary  of  War,  with  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet.  He 
held  this  appointment  till  the  fall  of  the  Ministry, 
two  years  later,  after  which  time,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  short  period  in  the  years  1846-47,  during 
which  he  was  Paymaster-General  under  Lord  John 
Russell's  administration,  he  never  again  accepted 
office. 

He  continued  in  Parliament,  however,  and  was 
still  busy  as  a  contributor  to  the  "Edinburgh  Re- 
view," but  neither  a  political  career  nor  periodical 
literature  seemed  to  offer  a  sufficiently  wide  scope 
for  his  genius.  He  was  anxious  to  achieve  some 
really  great  literary  work,  and  had  already  laid  out 
the  plan  of  a  great  historical  book,  extending  from 
the  reign  of  James  II.  "down  to  the  time  which  is 
within  the  memory  of  men  still  (1840)  living."  We 
all  know  that  this  great  work  was  never  finished, 
nor  are  we  sure  that  it  is  to  be  greatly  regretted.  It 
has  been  calculated  that  if  the  whole  period  had 
been  recorded  with  as  much  care  and  labour  as  Mac- 


Appointed 

Secretary  of 
War,  1837. 


Plans  a 
great 
historical 
work,  of 
which  only 
a  part  was 
finished. 


1 68 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Lays  of 

Ancient 

Rome," 


Received 
with  great 
enthusiasm, 
they  have 
never  lost 
their  popu- 
larity. 


aulay  spent  upon  the  fragment  which  he  completed, 
the  work  could  not  have  been  in  less  than  fifty  vol- 
umes, which,  at  the  rate  of  progress  habitual  to  the 
writer,  must  have  occupied  a  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
The  only  chance  of  completing  it  would,  therefore, 
have  been  by  omitting  the  labour  and  research  which 
made  the  work  move  slowly,  and  furnishing  us  with 
a  hasty  and  superficial  sketch  of  the  whole,  instead 
of  the  vivid  and  complete  picture  of  a  part  which  has 
been  left  to  us.  Such  a  consummation  could  not  be 
desired  by  anyone. 

The  "History,"  however,  could  not  yet  be  got  in 
hand.  Macaulay's  first  production  was  the  one 
which  has,  perhaps,  made  his  name  more  widely 
known  than  any  others,  the  "Lays  of  Ancient  Rome." 
The  chorus  of  enthusiastic  applause  with  which  the 
"Lays,"  were  received — Macaulay's  veteran  adver- 
sary, Christopher  North,  shouting  with  the  loudest, 
— has  not,  perhaps,  been  uniformly  echoed  by  the 
critics  of  latter  days  ;  but  with  the  far  more  import- 
ant audience  which  lies  outside  the  little  circle  of 
self-appointed  judges,  and  accepts  their  judgments 
when  it  agrees  with  them,  they  have  never  lost  their 
popularity.  Every  schoolboy  knows  them,  to  use  a 
favourite  phrase  of  Macaulay's  own,  though  school- 
boys are  not  usually  partial  to  poetry, — but  to  the 
minstrelsy  of  Scott  or  Macaulay — it  is  much  to 
mention  them  together — no  healthy-minded  boy  re- 
fuses to  listen  :  nor  should  we  think  much  for  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


169 


boy  who  could  not  declaim  some  of  the  fiery  sentences 
of  Icilius,  or  describe  exactly  the  manner  of  death 
of  Ocnus  or  Aruns,  Seius  or  Lausulus.  Of  older 
readers  it  is  less  necessary  to  speak,  as  he  who 
has  known  Macaulay's  Lays  in  his  childhood  has  no 
occasion  to  refer  to  them  again.  There  is  an  un- 
fading charm  in  the  swing  and  vigour  of  the  lines 
which  bring  to  our  ears  the  very  sounds  of  the  battle, 
the  clash  of  steel  and  the  rushing  of  the  horses,  "  the 
noise  of  the  captains  and  the  shouting."  "Acut- 
and- thrust-style,"  Wilson  called  it,  "without  any 
flourish.  Scott's  style  when  his  blood  was  up,  and 
the  first  words  came  like  a  vanguard  impatient  for 
battle."  The  praise  is  scarcely  extravagant. 

At  the  same  time  Macaulay  was  hard  at  work  col- 
lecting his  various  "  Essays  "  for  republication.  He 
had  not  wished  to  do  this,  considering  it  unadvisable 
to  tempt  criticism  with  a  volume  of  occasional 
papers,  however  successful  they  might  have  been  in 
a  magazine ;  but  the  importation  of  pirated  Ameri- 
can editions  left  him  no  choice,  and  the  collection 
was  published  in  1843.  It  was  received  with  enthu- 
siasm and  at  once  attained  a  popularity  which  it  has 
never  since  lost,  and  which  certainly  no  collection 
of  the  kind  has  ever  equalled.  There  is  some  reason 
to  doubt  the  expediency  of  republications  of  this  de- 
scription, though  they  are  certainly  the  means  of 
preserving  the  fame  of  a  periodical  writer  for  future 
generations ;  and  there  are  perhaps  few  cases  in 


Unfading 
charm  in  the 
swing  and 
vigour  of  the 
lines. 


Critical  and 
Historical 
"  Essays," 
1843. 


170 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


No  other 
collection  of 
the  kind  has 
ever  equal- 
kd  their 
popularity. 


The  position 
they  nave 
achieved  in 
popular 
literature. 


Historical 
preferred  to 
the  Political 
essays. 


which  they  have  any  chance  of  becoming  popular. 
We  are  accustomed  to  find  collected  essays  or  articles 
among  the  collected  works  of  every  eminent  modern 
writer,  but  the  volumes  which  contain  them  are  usu- 
ally the  least  read.  But  Macaulay's  Essays  have 
achieved  for  themselves  a  position  in  popular  litera- 
ture as  a  work  which  everyone  delights  to  read,  not 
for  conscience'  sake  or  duty,  but  merely  assa  thing  to 
be  enjoyed,  which  it  may  well  be  said  no  other  es- 
sayist has  equalled.  They  are  so  well  known  that 
any  kind  of  detailed  criticism  would  be  superfluous  ; 
nor,  as  everyone  has  his  own  favourites,  would  it  be 
of  any  great  use  to  make  selections  from  among 
them.  Yet  we  will  own  to  caring  least  for  those 
which  deal  with  the  political  questions  of  the  day 
and  most  for  those  of  a  historical,  or  still  more  bio- 
graphical character.  The  ease  and  charm  of  the 
narrative  in  such  favourite  essays  as  those  on  Clive 
and  Warren  Hastings,  cannot  but  be  felt  even  by 
those  who  are  most  inclined  to  differ  with  Macaulay's 
estimate  of  his  subjects.  To  us  there  is  an  even 
greater  attraction  in  the  light  and  yet  elaborate 
studies  of  character  as  demonstrated  in  action,  such 
as  are  contained  in  the  papers  upon  Sir  William 
Temple  and  on  Addison,  or  in  the  more  weighty  es- 
says upon  the  Earl  of  Chatham — brilliantly  begun  in 
comparatively  early  life,  before  the  writer  went  to 
India,  and  continued  ten  years  later  with  greater 
force  and  solidity  of  judgment  towards  the  end  of 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


171 


his  career  as  a  periodical  writer, — to  which  a  fitting 
complement  may  be  added  by  the  masterly  biog- 
raphy of  the  younger  Pitt  supplied  by  Macaulay  to 
the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  and  reprinted  with  his 
other  contributions  on  Atterbury,  Bunyan,  Goldsmith 
and  Johnson,  by  Mr.  Adam  Black,  the  publisher, 
after  the  author's  death. 

Macaulay  was  now  becoming  impatient  of  the  vari- 
ous occupations  which  prevented  him  from  getting 
to  work  on  his  long-projected  history.  In  1844  he 
definitely  closed  his  connection  with  the  "Edin- 
burgh," which  he  had  lately  felt  to  be  a  great  drag 
on  him,  having  contributed  only  two  more  articles 
•^those  on  Frederick  the  Great  and  Madame  d'Ar- 
blay,  respectively, — after  the  publication  of  the  col- 
lected "Essays."  All  this  time  he  was  attending  to 
his  Parliamentary  duties,  and  some  of  his  most  telling 
speeches  were  delivered  in  the  Parliament  of  1 84 1-47. 
His  appointment  as  Paymaster-General  in  1846 
obliged  him  to  seek  re-election  at  the  hands  of  his 
constituents,  and,  though  no  longer  unopposed,  as 
in  1841,  he  was  returned  by  a  triumphant  majority 
over  his  adversary,  Sir  Culling  Eardley  Smith.  Much 
sectarian  opposition,  however,  had  been  excited 
against  him  by  his  action  on  the  question  of  the 
grant  to  Maynooth  College,  and  at  the  general  elec- 
tion in  1847,  to  the  lasting  shame  of  the  con- 
stituency, Macaulay  lost  his  seat.  Wilson,  his  old 
literary  adversary  and  political  opponent,  had  risen 


Masterly 
biography  of 
the  younger 
Pitt. 


Closes  his 

connection 

with  the 

"  Edinburgh 

Review," 

1844. 


cal  r'  Es- 
says " 

on  Frederick 
the  Great 
and  Madame 
d'Arblay. 


Macaulay 
loses  his 
seat  in  Par- 
iament  in 
1847  owing 
to  his  action 
on  the  ques- 
tion of  the 
grant  to 
Maynooth. 


172 


THE  VICTORIAN-  AGE  OF 


First  two 
volumes  of 
"  History  of 
England," 
from  the  Ac- 
cession of 
James  II, 


Its  success 
phenomenal. 


from  a  sick-bed  to  record  his  vote  for  the  victim 
of  what  was  generally  felt  to  be  an  unjust  persecu- 
tion, and  the  public  sympathy  was  freely  expressed, 
but  Macaulay  himself  apparently  did  not  feel  the 
loss.  It  gave  him,  at  any  rate,  a  great  deal  of  ad- 
ditional leisure  to  devote  to  his  "  History,"  which 
was  now  so  far  advanced  that  the  two  first  volumes 
were  ready  for  publication  in  the  ensuing  year. 

The  success  of  the  "  History  of  England  "  from  the 
first  day  of  its  appearance  was  phenomenal.  A  first 
edition  of  three  thousand  copies  was  exhausted  in 
ten  days,  a  second  of  the  same  size  was  entirely 
bought  up  by  the  time  it  appeared,  and  a  third  of 
five  thousand  was  so  nearly  exhausted  six  weeks 
after  the  original  issue,  that  it  was  found  necessary 
to  print  two  thousand  additional  copies  to  meet  the 
immediate  demand.  The  excitement  aroused  by  its 
appearance  may  be  to  some  extent  estimated  by  the 
fact  that  the  Society  of  Friends  thought  it  necessary 
to  send  a  deputation  to  remonstrate  with  Macaulay 
for  the  view  he  had  taken  of  William  Penn.  The 
honest  Quakers  were  no  match  for  the  brilliant  dia- 
lectician, who  successfully  reasserted  his  views  on 
the  subject,  but  it  has  since  been  proved  that  they 
had  the  right  on  their  side.  Lockhart  wrote  to  Croker, 
who  was  waiting  to  measure  out  to  Macaulay  such 
criticism  as  had  been  meted  to  his  own  edition  of 
Boswell  in  days  gone  by, — that  he  had  read  the 
"History"  through  "with  breathless  interest,"  but 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


173 


admitted  that  it  contained  so  many  inaccuracies  that 
the  greatest  injury  would  be  done  to  the  author's 
feelings  by  telling  the  simple  truth  about  his  book. 
Croker,  however,  wrote  so  savage  a  review  that,  in 
face  of  the  general  public  approval,  it  hardly  excited 
any  notice  at  all,  though  his  strictures  were  hardly 
more  severe  than  the  criticisms  of  many  later  writers. 
For  the  time,  however,  opposition  was  hopeless,  and 
the  chorus  of  approval  was  hardly  broken  by  one 
dissentient  voice.  Macaulay  himself  told  an  amusing 
anecdote  illustrating  its  popularity  at  the  time.  "At 
last,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  T.  F.  Ellis  :  "I  have  at- 
tained true  glory.  As  I  walked  through  Fleet  Street 
the  day  before  yesterday,  I  saw  a  copy  of  Hume  at 
a  bookseller's  window  with  the  following  label : 
'Only  £2  2s.  Hume's  History  of  England  in  eight 
volumes,  highly  valuable  as  an  introduction  to  Mac- 
aulay I ' " 

Whatever  may  be  its  value  as  a  correct  record 
fact,  Macaulay 's  "History"  is  certainly  a  very  re- 
markable production  of  literary  art.  It  is  perhaps 
one  of  the  greatest  efforts  in  narrative  that  has  ever 
been  made.  From  beginning  to  end  we  have  avast 
history — in  the  original  sense  of  the  word  which  we 
usually  denote  by  lopping  the  first  syllable — flowing 
on  in  a  perfectly  unbroken  stream,  the  thousand  little 
rivulets  that  converge  into  the  main  flood  neither 
neglected  nor  magnified  into  undue  importance,  but 
firmly  and  skilfully  guided  into  their  proper  places  as 


Croker 
writes  a  sav- 
age review. 


Of  Tb 


ic  absolute 
continuity  of 
the  story  and 
the  masterly 
sketches  of 
character. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Adverse 
critics  say 
that  the 
work  is  dis- 
coloured by 
prejudice 
and  exagger- 
ated by  par- 
tiality. 


the  component  parts  of  a  great  whole.  Nothing  is 
more  striking  in  Macaulay's  work  than  this  absolute 
continuity  of  story.  There  is  no  lack  of  adornment, 
of  literary  grace  of  style  and  picturesque  detail,  nor  is 
there  any  point  in  which  Macaulay's  genius  is  more 
amply  displayed  than  in  the  masterly,  if  occasionally 
prejudiced,  sketches  of  character  with  which  the 
' '  History  "  is  interspersed ;  but  everything  is  subor- 
dinated to  the  central  necessity  of  allowing  no  break 
or  obstacle  to  the  narrative.  Thus  we  get  those  ex- 
quisite little  portraits  in  miniature  which  Macaulay 
threw  in  with  such  wondrous  skill  when  he  had  to 
present  a  new  character  upon  the  scene  whose  an- 
tecedents or  peculiarities  it  was  necessary  to  know, 
but  whom  there  was  no  time  to  describe  at  length. 
Even  the  more  finished  and  elaborate  studies  of  in- 
dividuals hardly  distract  the  attention  from  the  main 
story  longer  than  it  would  take  a  reader  to  turn  aside 
from  the  text  of  his  book  to  look  at  a  full  page  illus- 
tration ;  and  these  are  only  given  when  required  as 
a  foundation  of  knowledge  on  the  subject,  to  give 
some  idea  what  manner  of  man  is  presented  before 
the  audience  ;  for  as  to  the  real  character  of  each  actor, 
he  will  soon  show  that  in  the  only  reliable  manner, 
by  his  actions.  Macaulay's  enemies  are  accustomed 
to  say  that  these  characters  are  only  drawn  with 
exactitude  when  it  suits  his  partisan  purposes  to 
make  them  true  ;  otherwise  they  are  exaggerated  by 
partiality  or  discolored  by  prejudice,  and  the  story 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


of  their  lives  is  told  in  such  a  manner  as  accords 
with  the  political  views  of  the  writer.  To  our  mind 
such  charges  are  brought  on  too  general  a  scale  ;  but 
we  are  obliged  to  admit  that  in  some  cases  they  are 
not  without  foundation.  We  have  already  said  that 
Macaulay  often  found  it  hard  to  do  justice  to  his 
political  adversaries,  and  we  cannot  contend  that  he 
was  more  impartial  in  the  matter  of  statesmen  of 
days  long  gone  by,  to  whose  principles  or  conduct 
he  was  opposed.  To  him  the  men  of  the  court  of 
James  II.  were  as  real  and  living  as  those  among 
whom  he  lived ;  and  among  the  former,  as  the  latter, 
he  supported  his  friends  and  attacked  his  enemies. 
He  hated  Marlborough  as  he  hated  Croker  ;  he  spoke 
his  hatred  out,  as  was  his  nature,  and  he  refused  to 
see  any  redeeming  points  in  the  character  of  either 
adversary ;  we  may  say,  indeed,  that  he  was  incapa- 
ble of  seeing  them.  We  will  not  even  deny  that  in 
the  heat  of  his  animosity  he  may  have  distorted  facts  ; 
for  every  student  of  history  knows  with  what  read- 
iness those  elastic  trifles  will  assume  all  varieties  of 
shape  according  to  the  glasses  through  which  they 
are  observed.  But  these,  at  the  worst,  are  in  a  few 
extreme  instances,  for  which  we  at  least  are  ready  to 
forgive  one  of  the  only  historians  who  has  been  able 
to  make  his  readers  live  in  the  period  of  which  he 
writes. 

Coloured  as  his  narrative  may  be,  it  is  yet  history, 
and  history  of  the  most  profitable  kind.     The  lecture- 


incapable  of 

seeing  re- 
deeming 
points  in  the 
character 
of  an  ad- 
versary. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Macaulay's 
work  like  the 
unrolling  of 
a  drama  be- 
fore our 
eyes. 


This  the 
superiority 
of  Macau- 
lay's  work 
over  more 
exact 
historians. 


dried  student,  whose  interest  in  history  only  tends  to 
the  answering  of  questions  at  an  examination,  or  at 
best  to  endowing  posterity  with  a  set  of  cut  and  dried 
annals  for  the  benefit  of  future  candidates  for  hon- 
ours, finds  little  use  in  Macaulay.  He  says  both  too 
much  and  too  little,  and  is  too  entertaining  for  the 
conscientious  reader  to  study  in  working  hours.  It 
is  like  Partridge's  judgment  on  the  theatre,  when  he 
preferred  the  king  in  Hamlet,  who  was  so  obviously 
acting  a  part,  to  the  quiet,  little  man,  Garrick,  who 
spoke  and  moved  as  an  ordinary  mortal  might  have 
done.  No  one  could  possibly  read  one  of  Dr.  Gar- 
diner's valuable  works  without  feeling  that  he  was 
studying  history ;  when  we  read  Macaulay,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  feel  more  like  the  spectators  of  a  great 
natural  drama  unrolling  itself  before  our  eyes.  We 
are  not  even  hearing  the  story  told  by  one  of  the 
actors,  but  actually  looking  on  at  what  is  taking 
place.  This,  is  to  our  mind  the  great  superiority  of 
Macaulay's  work  over  those  of  more  exact  historians. 
Perhaps  we  may  take  an  illustration  of  our  meaning. 
Suppose  that  we  wished  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome  or  St  Mark's  at  Venice.  There  are 
numberless  works  in  which  we  could  find  exactly 
measured  designs  of  the  plan,  elevations  and  sec- 
tions of  the  buildings,  from  which  we  might  gain  a 
great  deal  of  practical  knowledge  and  be  able  to 
impart  it  to  others.  But  would  anyone  suggest  that 
we  should  thus  get  anything  like  so  real  an  idea  of 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


177 


St.  Peter's  as  could  be  derived  from  seeing  one  great 
picture  of  the  whole,  even  if  the  artist  had  made  the 
facade  a  yard  too  long  or  the  cupola  a  couple  of  feet  too 
high.  So  in  Macaulay's  great  picture  of  the  past,  the 
reader  can  see  at  a  glance  more  of  the  real  life  of  the 
world  as  it  was,  than  the  most  toilsome  examinations 
of  historical  evidence  can  afford  him.  Not  that  we 
undervalue  the  latter.  When  the  reader  has  taken 
in  the  sense  and  the  story  of  the  picture,  by  all 
means  let  him  go  and  verify  his  measurements. 

There  is  not  very  much  more  of  Macaulay's  life  to 
record.  The  third  and  fourth  volumes  of  the  History 
were  published  in  1855,  and  the  fifth  and  last  was 
not  finished  at  his  death.  It  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  him  to  be  unable  to  carry  it  further  on,  at 
least  to  the  reign  of  Anne.  In  1853  he  was  induced 
to  make  a  collection  of  his  speeches  for  reasons 
similar  to  those  which  had  led  to  the  publication  of 
the  Essays.  His  parliamentary  duties  were  resumed 
for  a  while,  for  Edinburgh  had  repented  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes,  and,  on  the  resignation  of  his  old  col- 
league, Sir  William  Gibson  Craig,  put  him  at  the  head 
of  the  poll,  though  he  was  not  able  to  be  present  to 
conduct  the  contest  in  person.  His  health,  however, 
was  failing,  and,  after  being  many  times  over-per- 
suaded by  his  constituents,  he  insisted  on  resigning 
his  seat  in  1856.  The  next  year  he  was  raised  to 
the  peerage  as  Baron  Macaulay  of  Rothley.  He 
still  worked  at  his  History  in  his  latter  years  and  con- 

12 


Illustration 
by  example. 


The  third 
and  fourth 
volumes  of 
the  History 
1855. 
The  fifth 
published 
after  his 
death. 


Raised  to 
the  peerage 
as  Baron 
Macaulay  of 
Rothley. 
1857. 


x78 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Died  in  1857, 


Sir  Francis 

Palgrave, 

1789-1861. 


Editor  cf  a 
collection  of 
"  Parlia- 
mentary 
Writs  "  for 
the  Record 
Commission. 


tributed  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  the  articles 
of  which  we  have  spoken.  His  last  days  were  peace- 
ful, though  somewhat  overclouded  by  melancholy, 
and  his  end  was  peace  itself,  the  gentle  and  easy 
transition  that  comes  to  some  who  scarcely  seem  to 
die  but  merely  cease  to  breathe.  Perhaps  this  was 
the  end  of  Enoch  ;  Macaulay  died  in  the  last  days  of 
the  year  1857,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
in  Poet's  Corner,  at  the  feet  of  the  statue  of  Addison. 
Among  the  historical  writers  of  the  early  part  of 
the  reign  there  is  certainly  none  who  can  put  forward 
any  claim  to  such  eminence  as  Macaulay,  at  least 
among  those  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of 
the  annals  of  their  own  country  ;  but  there  was  no  lack 
of  diligent  and  conscientious  writers  who  made  valu- 
able contributions  to  this  branch  of  literature.  A  de- 
servedly conspicuous  figure,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  reign,  as  a  leader  of  historical  research,  was 
that  of  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  Deputy  Keeper  of  the 
Records.  Born  in  1789,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  Jewish 
merchant,  Francis  Cohen — to  give  him  his  original 
name — at  first  devoted  himself  to  legal  studies,  first 
as  a  solicitor  and  afterwards  at  the  bar  to  which  he 
was  called  in  1827.  He  had  assumed  on  his  marriage 
the  name  of  Palgrave,  which  was  that  of  his  wife's 
mother.  He  was  already  known  as  the  writer  of 
some  remarkable  papers  on  historical  antiquities,  and 
the  editor  of  a  collection  of  "  Parliamentary  Writs" 
for  the  Record  Commission,  on  whose  behalf  he  con- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


179 


tinued  for  many  years  to  do  much  excellent  work, 
rising  to  the  position  of  Deputy  Keeper  in  1838. 
His  work,  however,  was  not  limited  to  productions 
of  this  official  nature.  Devoting  himself  with  the 
ardour  of  a  true  student  to  the  search  for  historic  truth, 
he  directed  his  attention  to  those  obscurer  portions 
of  our  early  history,  of  which  previous  writers  had 
been  wont  to  accept,  without  inquiry,  any  idle,  half- 
legendary  account  which  presented  itself.  In  his 
"History  of  England  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period  " 
(1831),  and  of  the  "Rise  andProgress  of  the  English 
Commonwealth"  during  the  same  period  (1832), 
and,  finally,  in  his  greatest  work,  the  "  History  of 
Normandy  and  England  "  (1851-64),  Palgrave  made 
the  first  really  critical  inquiry  into  the  earlier  ages  of 
English  history,  and  even  had  he  achieved  less  him- 
self, would  be  worthy  of  high  praise  for  his  services 
as  a  pioneer  in  clearing  the  ground  for  those  who 
came  after.  His  "History  of  Normandy  and  Eng- 
land," which  was  not  completed  at  his  death  in 
1 86 1,  is,  however,  a  work  of  acknowledged  merit. 
A  writer  of  less  real  merit,  but  perhaps  more  widely 
known,  whose  principal  work  was  in  progress  at  the 
time  of  the  Queen's  accession,  was  Sir  Archibald  Ali- 
son. Born  in  1792,  in  a  Shropshire  village,  of  which 
his  father — the  author  of  an  "Essay  on  Taste,"  which 
received  some  praise  in  its  day — was  incumbent,  of 
good  Scotch  blood  on  both  sides,  Alison  was  edu- 
cated at  Edinburgh  University  and  called  to  the  Scot- 


"  History  of 

England 

during  the 

Anglo-Saxon 

Period," 

1831. 

"  Rise  and 
Progress  of 
the  English 
Common- 
wealth," 
1832. 

"  History  of 
Normandy 
and  Eng- 
land," 
1851-1864. 


Not  com- 

Eleted  at 
is  death  in 
1861. 


Sir  Archi- 
bald Alison, 
1792-1867. 


i8o 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Criminal 

Law," 

1832-3. 

"  History  of 
Europe  from 
the  Com- 
mencement 
of  the 

French  Re- 
volution 1789 
to  the  Res- 
toration of 
the  Bour- 
bons in 
1815." 


"  Principles 
of  Popula- 
tion,   1840. 
The  "  Life 
of  John, 
Duke  of 
Marlbo- 
rough," 
1847. 

"  Lives  of 
Lord  Castle- 
reagh  and 
Charles 
Stewart," 
1861. 

An  "  Au- 
tobiogra- 
phy," 1867. 
Lord  Rector 
of  Aben'e^n 
University, 


tish  bar  in  1814.  His  success  in  the  legal  profession 
is  evidenced  by  his  appointment  as  Advocate  Depute, 
and  afterwards  as  Sheriff  of  Lanarkshire — in  which 
important  post  he  acted  with  equal  ability  and  vigour 
during  a  very  critical  period — and  also  by  his  treatise 
upon  "Criminal  Law"  (1832-33),  which  is  still  a 
standard  work  in  Scotland.  In  1829  he  commenced 
his  chief  historical  work  on  the  "History  of  Europe, 
from  the  Commencement  of  the  French  Revolution 
in  1789  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons  in  1815," 
the  first  two  volumes  of  which  were  published  in 
1833,  and  the  tenth  and  last  in  1842.  Ten  years  later 
he  added  a  continuation  of  the  history  in  six  more 
volumes,  bringing  it  down  to  the  year  1852.  This 
voluminous  work,  though  ill-treated  by  the  critics, 
was  strangely  popular  in  its  day,  and,  setting  style, 
prejudices  and  reflections  on  one  side,  it  undoubtedly 
has  its  value  as  a  full  and  continuous  record  of  events 
in  the  period  with  which  it  deals.  Among  Alison's 
other  works  were  his  "Principles  of  Population" 
(1840),  the  "Life  of  John,  Duke  of  Maryborough," 
(1847),  the  "Lives  of  Lord  Castlereagh  and  Charles 
Stewart,  Marquesses  of  Londonderry"  (1861),  and 
an  "Autobiography,"  chiefly  written  in  the  years 
1851-52,  but  only  published  after  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1867.  He  was  a  constant  contributor  to 
"Blackwood"  and  a  Tory  in  politics.  His  political 
views,  joined  to  his  personal  popularity,  caused  him 
to  be  elected  Lord  Rector  of  Marischal  College,  Aber- 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


181 


cleen,  against  Macaulay   in   1845,   an<i  °f  Glasgow 
University  against  Lord  Palmerston  in  1851. 

A  historian  who  ought  to  have  achieved  a  much 
greater  position  than  either  of  the  writers  we  have 
quoted  was  Philip  Henry,  fifth  Earl  of  Stanhope,  better 
known  in  literature  by  the  title  of  Lord  Mahon,  which 
he  bore  by  courtesy  during  his  father's  lifetime.  Born 
in  1805,  and  educated  at  Christ  Church,  Mahon  en- 
tered Parliament  at  an  early  age  and  sat  there  for 
many  years  without  greatly  distinguishing  himself, 
though  Sir  Robert  Peel  gave  him  some  minor  offices 
to  hold  at  different  times.  His  first  start  in  literature 
was  with  a  "Life  of  Belisarius, "  published  in  1829, 
to  which  succeeded  his  principal  works,  the  "  History 
of  the  War  of  the  Succession  in  Spain  "  (1832),  and 
the  "History  of  England  from  the  Peace  of  Utrecht " 
(1837-52).  His  merits  as  a  painstaking  and  judicious 
historian  would  be  more  generally  recognised,  had 
he  possessed  greater  skill  as  a  writer.  This  quality, 
however,  was  unfortunately  denied  to  him,  and  we 
can  only  speak  with  commendation  of  what  his  work 
might  have  been  if  it  had  been  one  degree  less  ill 
written.  Setting  aside  the  power  of  expression,  he 
had  almost  all  the  qualities  necessary  for  a  good  his- 
torian. Among  his  many  other  works  were  the 
"Court  of  Spain  under  Charles  II."  (1844),  "Life  of 
the  Great  Conde"  (1845),  "History  of  the  Rise  of 
our  Indian  Empire"  (1858),  and  "Life  and  Corre- 
spondence of  William  Pitt "  (1861-62)  ;  he  was  also  a 


1814;  and  of 
Glasgow 
University, 
1851. 

Lord 

Mahon, 

afterwards 

Earl  of 

Stanhope, 

1805-1875. 


"Life  of  Be- 
lisarius," 
1829. 

"  History  of 

the  War  of 

Succession 

in  Spain," 

1832. 

"  History  of 

England 

from  the 

Peace  of 

Utrecht," 

1837-52. 


"  Court  of 
Spain  under 
Charles 
II.,"  1844. 
"  Life  of  the 
Great 
Conde"," 
1845. 

"  History  of 
the  Rise  of 
our  Indian 
Empire," 
1858. 

"  Life  and 
Correspond- 
ence of  Wil- 
liam Pitt," 
1861-62. 


182 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Elected 
President  of 
the  Society 
of  Antiqua- 
ries, 1846. 


Died  In 
1857. 


Harriet 

Martineau, 

1802-1876. 


"  Devotion- 
al Exercises 
for  the 
Young," 
1823. 


"The 

Rioters," 

1826. 


"  Illustra- 
tions of  Po- 
litical Eco- 
nomy." 
"  Poor 
Laws  and 
Paupers," 
1833- 

"  Illustra- 
tion of  Tax- 
ation," 1834. 


frequent  contributor  to  the  "Quarterly  Review." 
The  estimation  in  which  his  talents  were  held  may 
be  judged  by  his  election  as  President  of  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries  in  1846,  as  Lord  Rector  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Aberdeen  in  1858,  and  Chairman  of  the  Na- 
tional Portrait  Gallery — in  the  foundation  of  which 
he  took  a  leading  part — in  1857.  He  died  in  1875. 

A  singularly  different  figure  comes  before  us,  in  this 
review  of  historians,  in  the  author  of  a  work,  origi- 
nally projected  by  Charles  Knight,  the  "History  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  Peace,"  succeeding  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.  Harriet  Martineau,  born  at  Norwich  in 
1802,  of  a  French  Huguenot  family,  which  had  pro- 
vided several  generations  of  skilled  surgeons  to  that 
city,  after  making  an  early  start  in  literature  with  a 
book  of  "Devotional  Exercises  for  the  Young,"  pub- 
lished in  1823,  devoted  her  time  chiefly  to  a  series  of 
tales  with  a  moral,  illustrative  of  political  economy, 
of  which  "The  Rioters"  (1826),  is  perhaps  the  best 
known.  Miss  Martineau  was  in  early  life  a  Unitarian 
— of  which  sect  her  brother,  Dr.  James  Martineau,  of 
whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  in  another 
place,  is  still  one  of  the  most  eminent  professors— 
and  among  her  early  successes  were  some  prize  es- 
says on  religious  subjects  published  by  a  society  of 
that  persuasion.  To  her  first  set  of  tales,  which  were 
entitled  "Illustrations  of  Political  Economy,"  suc- 
ceeded others  under  the  general  head  of  "  Poor  Laws 
and  Paupers,"  and  "Illustrations  of  Taxation." 


• 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


These  narratives,  of  a  curiously  prosaic  and  common- 
place character,  and  discussing  subjects — such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  appropriation  and  cultivation  of  Com- 
mons, on  which  public  opinion  has  entirely  changed 
since  their  day — quite  unfit  for  such  treatment,  had 
nevertheless  an  astonishing  popularity.  In  the  year 
of  the  Queen's  accession,  Miss  Martineau  published 
a  book  on  "Society  in  America,"  containing  the  im- 
pressions of  a  recent  tour  in  the  United  States.  Two 
years  later  came  her  first  novel,  "Deerbrook,"  a 
work  of  considerable  merit,  which  was  followed  in 
1840  by  "The  Hour  and  the  Man,"  a  courageous 
attempt  to  whitewash  the  savage  negro  leader,  Tous- 
saint  L'Ouverture.  The  next  few  years  of  her  life 
were  devoted  to  those  tales  for  children  on  which, 
perhaps,  her  most  lasting  title  to  fame  will  rest,  the 
"Settlers  at  Home,"  and  the  ever-delightful  "Feats 
on  the  Fiord."  There  were  more  tales  also  with  a 
political  moral,  on  the  Game  Laws  this  time.  Miss 
Martineau's  sympathies  were  with  the  people,  to  use 
the  consecrated  phrase  which  generally  denotes  a 
violent  antipathy  to  all  classes  not  belonging  to  the 
poorest  quarter  of  that  great  whole,  and  her  teach- 
ing is  often  unsound ;  but  the  stories  proved  to  be 
admirably  adapted  to  the  audience  addressed,  and  as 
the  literary  vehicle  of  the  views  to  be  inculcated. 
The  "History  of  the  Thirty  Years' Peace,  1816-1846," 
which  was  published  in  1850,  is  to  our  mind  less  suc- 
cessful. It  is  by  no  means  so  interesting  as  one 


"  Society  in 

America," 

1837- 

"  Deer- 
brook," 
1839- 

"  The  Hour 
and  the 
Man,"  1840. 


"  Settlers  at 
Home." 
"  Feats  on 
the  Fiord." 


"  History  of 
the  Thirty 
Years'     ' 
Peace.  1816- 
1846,''  1850. 


1 84 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  Ofi 


Abridgment 
of  Comte's 
Philosophy, 
i*53- 

"  House- 
hold Educa- 
tion." 


"  Autobio- 
graphy," 
published 
after  her 
death. 


Writers  de- 
voted to  the 
history  of 
Scotland. 


Cosmo 
Innes,  1798- 
1874. 


would  have  expected  from  the  writer  of  such  clever 
stories  ;  it  goes  slowly,  and  drags  on  its  way,  and  its 
movements  are  conducted  in  a  kind  of  atmosphere 
of  mild  preachment,  which  the  ordinary  reader  will 
find  somewhat  enervating.  In  later  life  Miss  Marti- 
neau  became  a  Positivist,  and  published  an  abridg- 
ment of  Comte's  Philosophy.  The  principal  work  of 
her  later  life,  however,  next  to  the  "  History,"  was 
her  "Household  Education,"  which  originally  ap- 
peared in  the  "People's  Journal;"  she  also  con- 
tributed frequently  to  the  "Daily  News  "and  "Once 
a  Week."  She  died  in  1876;  an  "Autobiography" 
which  she  left  unfinished  being  published  after  her 
death. 

Other  writers  who  have  made  less  mark  in  the 
world  devoted  themselves  to  the  history  of  Scotland, 
for  a  really  valuable  and  interesting  account  of 
which  the  world  has  yet  to  wait.  Among  the  in- 
quirers into  this  difficult  subject  we  should  give 
special  prominence  to  Cosmo  Innes  (1798-1874), 
known  as  the  author  of  a  number  of  valuable  essays 
on  the  early  history  of  the  Scottish  people — not  merely 
the  barbarous  chieftains  and  henchmen  who  grieved 
the  soul  of  Carlyle  : — as  the  editor  of  many  ancient 
documents  for  the  Bannatyne,  Maitland,  and  other 
antiquarian  societies,  and  as  Professor  of  History  in 
Edinburgh  University.  The  still  obscurer  annals  of 
the  extreme  North  were  the  subject  of  more  than  one 
work  of  merit  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign,  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


chief  of  which  were  the  "  Highlanders  of  Scotland," 
published  in  1837  by  Mr.  William  Forbes  Skene,  now 
her  Majesty's  Historiographer  in  Scotland,  and  the 
equally  interesting  and  more  weighty  "History  of 
the  Highlands  and  of  the  Highland  Clans,"  by  Dr. 
James  Browne  (1793-1841),  best  known  in  his  own 
days  as  an  excessively  combative  journalist.  For 
those  who  do  not  seek  for  very  solid  information 
there  is  some  attraction  in  the  pleasing  though 
superficial  sketches  entitled  "Lives  of  the  Queens 
of  England  from  the  Norman  Conquest  "  (1840-49) — 
afterwards  supplemented  by  "Lives  of  the  Queens 
of  Scotland  and  English  Princesses,  connected  with 
the  Regal  Succession  of  Great  Britain"  (1850-59) — 
by  Agnes  and  Elizabeth  Strickland.  More  value 
is  attached  to  the  "Lives  of  the  Princesses  of 
England"  (1849-55),  by  Mrs.  Mary  Anne  Everett 
Green,  a  lady  who  has  done  much  good  work  for 
the  Record  Commission,  and  whose  name  as  a 
historical  scholar  stands  deservedly  high.  Another 
lady  who  also  devoted  herself  to  the  study  of  English 
history  was  Miss  Lucy  Aikin  (1781-1864),  whose 
"Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  Queen  Elizabeth,"  pub- 
lished in  1818,  gained  a  fleeting  popularity  not  ac- 
corded to  later  similar  sketches  of  the  courts  of  James 
I.  and  Charles  I.  Miss  Aikin  produced  in  1843  a 
"Life  of  Addison, " best  known  by  Macaulay's  essay 
thereupon,  and  wrote  memoirs  of  her  father,  Dr. 
John  Aikin,  and  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Barbauld,  which  later 


William 
Forbes 
Skene. 


Dr.  James 

Browne, 

1793-1841. 


Lesser 
writers  on 
English  His- 
tory are — 


Agnes  and 

Elizabeth 

Strickland. 


Mary  Anne 

Everett 

Green. 


Lucy  Aikin, 
1781-1864. 


i86 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


John  Hene- 
age  Jesse, 
1815-1874. 


Edward 
Jesse,    1780- 
1868. 


Writers  of 

ancient 

history. 


Thomas 
Arnold, 
1795-1843. 


works  alone  come  within  our  period.  Among 
writers  of  similar  memoires  pour  servir,  we  should 
mention  the  name  of  John  Heneage  Jesse  (i  8 1 5-1 874), 
a  dabbler  in  court  history  at  various  periods  from 
Richard  III.  to  George  III.,  and  the  author  of  a  work 
on  "London  :  its  Celebrated  Characters  and  Places, " 
which  would  be  more  valued  were  it  not  for  the  con- 
currence of  the  better  known  "  Handbook  "  of  Peter 
Cunningham.  His  father,  Edward  Jesse  (1780-1868), 
was  the  author  of  some  successful  "Anecdotes  of 
Dogs  "  and  other  works  on  natural  history. 

A  more  remarkable  group  of  men  is  brought  be- 
fore us  when  we  turn  to  that  division  of  literature 
which  bears  the  somewhat  loose  technical  term  of 
ancient  history.  The  names  of  Dr.  Arnold,  Dean 
Milman,  Bishop  Thirlwall,  and  Mr.  Grote  are  known 
in  a  larger  field  than  even  that  of  literature,  though 
it  is  only  in  their  quality  of  writers  that  we  are  called 
upon  to  judge  of  them.  From  our  point  of  view,  Dr. 
Arnold,  for  instance,  is  not  the  great  Head  Master 
of  Rugby,  but  the  much  less  important  historian  of 
Rome.  With  this  apology,  which  must  be  taken  to 
apply  to  a  number  of  personages  mentioned  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  this  work,  we  may  give  such  particulars 
of  their  careers  as  are  necessary  to  the  comprehen- 
sion of  their  position  in  literature. 

Thomas  Arnold  was  born  at  Cowes  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight  in  1795,  and  educated  at  Winchester  and  at 
Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford,  where  he  obtained  a 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


187 


first  class  in  classics  in  1814,  afterwards  being  elected 
to  a  fellowship  at  Oriel.  The  society  at  Oriel,  where 
Coplestone,  Whately,  Keble,  Newman  and  others  of 
equal  distinction  were  then  resident,  had,  no  doubt,  a 
profound  influence  upon  his  manner  of  thought  and 
conduct.  After  taking  deacon's  orders  in  1818  he 
spent  some  years  in  the  retirement  of  Laleham,  a 
quiet  village  situated  on  an  extremely  unattractive 
reach  of  the  Thames,  not  far  from  Staines,  where  he 
took  pupils  to  prepare  them  for  the  University.  In 
1827  he  was  appointed  Head  Master  of  Rugby  School, 
where  his  old  friend,  Dr.  Hawkins,  afterwards  Pro- 
vost of  Oriel,  predicted  that  he  would  "change  the 
face  of  education  all  through  the  public  schools  of 
England. "  If  this  prophecy  was  not  carried  out  to 
the  letter,  it  must  at  least  be  owned  that  the  influ- 
ence of  Arnold's  headmastership  was  widely  felt, 
though  most  especially  by  those  who  came  under 
his  personal  influence.  Up  to  this  time  Arnold  had 
done  no  literary  work,  though  he  had  projected 
much ;  indeed,  he  never  carried  out  the  half  of  his 
intentions  in  this  matter,  for  his  life  was  short  and  his 
time  much  occupied  with  affairs  of  greater  immediate 
moment.  In  his  early  days  at  Rugby,  his  biogra- 
pher, Dean  Stanley,  tells  us,  Arnold  had  formed  a 
threefold  conception  of  the  literary  work  which  lay 
before  him ;  it  was  to  include  a  History  of  Rome, 
a  commentary  on  the  New  Testament,  and  a  trea- 
tise of  some  kind  upon  Christian  politics,  or  the 


Appointed 
HeadMastei 
of  Rugby, 

1827. 


Conception 
of  his  future 
literary 
work. 


iSS 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Sermons," 
1829-1834. 


Edition  of 
"  Thucy- 
dides," 
1830-1835. 


"  History  of 

Rome," 

1838-1843. 


A  posthu- 
mous sup- 
plement to 
his  History 
published  in 
1845. 


proper  functions  and  relations  of  Church  and  State. 
The  first  of  these  ideas  was  practically  the  only  one 
that  he  ever  realized.  In  1829  appeared  the  first 
volume  of  his  Sermons,  the  third  and  last  of  the 
original  edition  being  published  in  1834,  and  be- 
tween the  years  1 830  and  1835  his  edition  of  "Thucy- 
dides,"  a  work  of  which  every  true  student  of  Greek 
literature  has  felt  the  value,  not  so  much  as  a  piece 
of  teaching  as  in  the  light  of  a  pleasant  companion 
in  the  study  of  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  an- 
cient writers.  Thucydides  had  always  been  a 
special  favourite  with  Arnold,  who  was  a  thorough 
scholar  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word,  at  a  time  when 
the  enthusiasm  of  scholarship  was  not  limited  to 
small  philological  questions  or  the  use  of  brav  with 
the  optative. 

The  "History  of  Rome  "  belongs  to  the  literature 
of  the  present  reign,  the  first  volume  having  been 
published  in  1838,  and  the  third  and  last  in  1843. 
After  the  author's  death  a  supplement  was  published 
in  1845,  giymg  the  history  of  the  republic  from  the 
end  of  the  second  Punic  war  to  its  final  extinction  by 
Augustus,  drawn  from  articles  contributed  by  Arnold 
to  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana."  The  Roman 
history  is  still  regarded  as  a  valuable  work,  and 
is  sufficiently  entertaining  to  the  reader  ;  the  account 
of  the  earlier  period  is  almost  entirely  drawn  from 
the  work  of  Niebuhr,  whom  Arnold  regarded  with 
excessive  veneration.  The  rest  of  Arnold's  literary 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


189 


efforts  are  chiefly  of  a  polemical  character.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  opinions,  both  on  political  and  re- 
ligious subjects  ;  and  he  thought  it  shame  to  conceal 
his  views  upon  any  subject ;  nay,  rather,  he  con- 
sidered it  his  bounden  duty,  perhaps  overrating  the 
power  of  his  pen,  to  thrust  them  upon  the  public. 
His  views  were  catholic  and  liberal.  He  regarded 
the  Church — not  the  priesthood,  but  the  whole  body 
— as  inseparably  linked  with  the  State,  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  latter ;  he  would  have  had  the  Church 
to  be  a  really  universal  institution,  in  which  Angli- 
cans and  Dissenters  were  to  be  induced  to  live  to- 
gether, even  if  it  required  the  celebration  of  different 
services  according  to  different  rituals  at  different 
hours  on  the  same  day  in  the  same  Church ;  and, 
above  all,  he  desired  to  see  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity asserted  in  everyday  life,  whether  private  or 
public.  These  views  he  asserted  freely  and  perhaps 
occasionally  with  the  intolerance  of  an  enthusiast  in 
a  number  of  pamphlets  upon  Church  questions  and 
in  newspapers.  He  even  founded,  together  with 
his  nephew,  John  Ward,  a  weekly  newspaper  of  his 
own,  entitled  the  "Englishman's  Register,"  for  the 
diffusion  of  their  opinions — which  lived  through  a 
portion  of  the  year  1831.  In  1842  he  was  appointed 
Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  at  Oxford,  and 
in  the  following  year  he  died,  suddenly,  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-seven. 
A  contemporary  of  Arnold,  though  he  outlived  him 


His  views  on 
he  Church 

and  the 

State. 


His  views 
catholic  and 
iberal. 


Appointed 
Regius   Pro- 
fessor  of 
Oxford, 
1842. 
Died  in 
1843. 


igo 


THE   VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Henry  Hart 

Milman, 

1791-1868. 


"  Fazio," 
1815. 


Professor  of 
Poetry  at 
Oxford,i82i. 


"  Anne 

Boleyn," 

1826. 


"  History  of 
the  Jews," 
1829. 


by  many  years,  who  is  perhaps  more  a  historian  of 
the  Church  than  of  Rome,  but  who  seems  to  come  in 
not  unfitly  here,  was  Henry  Hart  Milman.  Born  in 
1791  and  educated  at  Eton  and  Brasenose  College, 
Oxford,  of  which  he  became  a  fellow  in  1815,  Milman 
made  his  first  appearance  in  literature  at  an  early 
age  as  a  poet.  He  had,  indeed,  while  an  undergrad- 
uate, obtained  the  Newdigate  prize  for  a  poem  on  the 
Apollo  Belvidere,  but,  nothing  daunted  by  this,  he 
continued  to  write  in  verse,  and  in  1815  gave  to  the 
world  a  tragedy  called  ' '  Fazio, "  which  was  actually 
produced  at  Covent  Garden  with  considerable  suc- 
cess. Being  appointed  to  a  living  at  Reading,  he 
fell  back  upon  religious  poetry,  epic  and  dramatic, — 
but  in  no  case  for  the  stage, — with  such  effect  that  he 
was  chosen  to  be  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford  in 
1821,  and  thus  encouraged  to  persevere,  till  he  closed 
his  poetical  career  five  years  later  with  the  tragedy 
of  "Anne  Boleyn."  The  University,  with  a  natural 
sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  thereupon  made  him 
Bampton  Lecturer  for  the  year  1827,  and  Milman 
turned  his  attention  to  the  more  sedate  study  of  his- 
tory, producing  in  1829  a  "History  of  the  Jews," 
which  made  the  hair  of  the  University  stand  on  end 
This  did  not,  however,  arrest  the  author  in  the  tran- 
quil path  of  ecclesiastical  preferment,  as  he  was  ap- 
pointed in  1835  to  a  canon's  stall  at  Westminster, 
together  with  the  Rectory  of  St.  Margaret's.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  reign,  he  was  engaged  upon  what 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


191 


is  generally  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  editions  of 
Gibbon.  In  1840  appeared  his  "  History  of  Christi- 
anity from  the  Birth  of  Christ  to  the  Abolition  of 
Paganism  in  the  Roman  Empire, "  to  which  was  added, 
fifteen  years  later,  his  greatest  work,  the  ' '  History 
of  Latin  Christianity  to  the  Pontificate  of  Nicholas 
V."  The  latter  history,  especially,  shows  an  amount 
of  learning  and  research,  together  with  a  judicious 
insight  into  the  best  principles  of  criticism,  which 
were  not  so  common  in  Milman's  time  as  people  are 
fond  of  saying  they  are  now.  The  ' '  Latin  Christi- 
anity "  is  still  a  valued  book  of  reference,  and  gives 
its  author  a  more  lasting  title  to  fame  than  many 
."Martyrs  of  Antioch  "  could  do,  even  with  the  ad- 
dition of  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan's  music.  Milman  was 
appointed  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  in  1849,  an<^  retained 
the  appointment  to  his  death  in  1868. 

A  somewhat  incongruous  figure  to  appear  in  this 
company  has  nevertheless  a  right  to  be  mentioned  in 
connection  with  Roman  history.  Sir  George  Corne- 
wall  Lewis  (1806-1863),  another  product  of  the  heal- 
thy combination  of  Eton  and  Oxford,  was  best  known 
as  a  politician,  and  held  various  important  ministerial 
offices,  including  those  of  Home  Secretary  and  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer.  He  was  also  a  prolific  writer, 
chiefly  upon  more  or  less  political  questions,  among 
his  most  successful  treatises  being  the  "  Remarks  on 
the  Use  and  Abuse  of  Political  Terms,"  and  the  "Es- 
say on  the  Government  of  Dependencies, "  the  latter 


"  History  of 
Christianity 
from  the 
Birth  of 
Christ  to  the 
Abolition  of 
Paganism  in 
the  Roman 
Empire," 
1840. 

"  History  of 
Latin  Christ- 
ianity, inclu- 
ding that  of 
the  Popes  to 
the  Pontifi- 
cate of 
Nicholas 
V."  1854- 
1855- 


Dean  of  St. 
Paul's,  1849. 

Died  in  1868. 


Sir  George 
Cornewall 
Lewis,  1806- 
1863. 


Remarks 
on  the  Use 
and  Abuse 
of  Political 
Terms," 
1832. 

"  Essay  on 
the  Govern- 
ment of  De- 
pendencies,' 
1849. 


I92 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Inquiry  In- 
to the  Credi- 
bility of  the 
Early  Ro- 
man His- 
tory," 1855. 


A  ruthless 
attack  on  the 
early  Roman 
Legends. 


Edited  the 
"  Edinburgh 
Review," 
1854-55- 


of  which  has  been  recently  reprinted.  This  class  of 
writing  is  seldom  entertaining,  and  in  Sir  George 
Lewis's  hands  becomes  exceedingly  dry  ;  but  there 
is  more  life  in  the  more  important  work  which  leads 
us  to  class  the  author  among  the  students  of  ancient 
history,  a  ruthless  attack  upon  all  manner  of  legends 
and  traditions,  entitled  an  "Inquiry  into  the  Credi- 
bility of  the  Early  Roman  History."  We  have  small 
sympathy,  as  a  rule,  with  the  demolishers  of  tradi- 
tions. It  is  certainly  not  a  work  of  mercy,  and  sel- 
dom of  necessity ;  indeed,  it  usually  reminds  us, 
especially  when  carried  out  with  undue  violence,  of 
the  unnecessary  efforts  of  Panard's  stage  hero  : 

"  J'ai  vu  Roland  dans  sa  col&re 
Exercer  1'effort  de  son  bras 
Pour  pouvoir  arracher  de  terre 
Des  arbres — qui  n'y  tenait  pas." 

But  there  is  certainly  in  this  author  a  refreshing  vi- 
vacity of  attack,  hitting  out  all  round,  not  only  at 
the  good,  easy  legends  by  which  children  are  lured 
on  to  think  there  must  really  be  something  to  read 
in  history,  but  with  equal  force  assailing  the  calm 
assumptions  of  the  scientific  Niebuhr, — which  gives 
a  somewhat  pleasurable  sensation  to  the  reader. 
Besides  other  literary  work,  Sir  George  Lewis  be- 
came, on  the  death  of  Professor  Empson,  the  editor 
of  the  "Edinburgh  Review"  for  about  a  year,  being 
succeeded  on  his  retirement  by  the  present  editor, 
Mr.  Henry  Reeve. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'93 


About  the  same  period  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign 
were  produced  two  of  the  most  successful  and  valu- 
able works  on  the  history  of  ancient  Greece  which 
have  yet  been  given  to  the  world.  Strikingly  differ- 
ent in  life,  manners  and  writing  as  the  two  historians 
were,  they  are  brought  together  by  their  common 
study,  and  after  the  work  of  their  life  was  done,  they 
sleep,  side  by  side,  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Adhering 
to  the  chronological  order  of  their  works  rather  than 
to  the  age  of  the  writers,  we  must  take  the  youngest 
first.  Connop  Thirlwall  was  born  in  1797,  the  son  of  Connop 

Thirlwall, 

an  English  clergyman,  and  educated  at  Charterhouse 
and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  In  early  life  he 
had  shown  some  literary  ability,  and  his  father  had 
taken  the  perhaps  unnecessary  trouble  of  collecting 
a  number  of  his  productions  in  prose  and  verse, 
which  were  published  in  1807  under  the  title  of 
"  Primitiae. ''  Thirlwall  had  originally  chosen  the 
bar  as  a  profession,  but  afterwards  entered  the 
Church,  and  was  soon  appointed  to  a  valuable  living 
in  Yorkshire.  Like  other  young  men  of  his  time,  he 
fell  under  the  influence  of  the  new  criticism  which 
was  then  startling  the  world  by  its  daring  system  of 
replacing  doubtful  tradition  by  clever  guesses  at  the 
possible  truth  resting  upon  a  still  less  solid  foundation  ; 
and  in  collaboration  with  Julius  Hare  he  commenced 
a  translation  of  Niebuhr's  "History  of  Rome,"  in 
1828.  It  was  not  till  a  few  years  later  that  he  set  to 
work  upon  his  "History  of  Greece,"  which  was  in 

13 


194 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Appointed 
Bishop  of 
St.  David's 
1840. 


"  Letters  to 
a  Friend,' 
published 
after  his 
death. 


George 
Grote,  1794- 
1871. 


its  original  form  a  contribution  to  Dionysius  Lardner's 
"Cabinet Cyclopaedia" (183 5-4 7),  but  was  afterwards 
published  separately  in  an  enlarged  form  (1845-52). 
It  is  a  work  full  of  interest  and  much  more  readable 
than  the  more  elaborate  history  of  Grote,  though  the 
latter  has  to  a  great  extent  supplanted  it  as  a  work  of 
reference.  Thirlwall's  history  will,  however,  always 
retain  its  value,  and  certainly  deserves  more  atten- 
tion than  is  generally  paid  to  it.  In  1840  Thirlwall 
was  appointed  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  an  office  for 
which  he  proved  himself  to  be  admirably  suited. 
From  this  time  to  his  retirement,  thirty-four  years 
later,  his  work  was  confined  to  the  administration  of 
his  diocese.  He  was,  however,  a  member  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  revise  the  translation  of  the 
Old  Testament.  After  his  death  in  1875,  a  new  side 
of  his  character  was  revealed  to  the  public  in  the 
charming  series  of  "  Letters  to  a  Friend,"  published 
in  1880. 

A  singular  contrast  to  the  kindly  Bishop  of  St.  David's 
was  the  hard-headed  German  banker-philosopher, 
George  Grote.  Born  in  1794,  and  consequently  three 
years  older  than  Thirlwall,  he  also  was  educated  at  the 
Charterhouse  ;  but  three  years  makes  a  serious  differ- 
ence with  boys,  and  the  future  historians  of  Greece 
do  not  seem  to  have  come  much  in  contact,  though 
they  were  great  friends  in  later  life.  At  sixteen  he 
was  established  in  the  banking  house  set  up  by  his 
grandfather,  Andreas  Grote,  the  first  member  of  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


'95 


family  who  settled  in  England,  of  which  he  became 
the  head  on  his  father's  death  in  1830.  In  early  life 
this  very  serious  young  man  fell  under  the  dominion 
of  James  Mill,  and  established  a  little  philosophical 
society  of  kindred  spirits,  who  met  at  his  bank  to 
discuss  abstruse  subjects  at  the  gruesome  hour  of 
half-past  eight  in  the  morning,  before  business.  In 
1821  appeared  his  first  publication,  a  "  Statement  of 
the  Question  of  Parliamentary  Reform,"  to  which 
succeeded  other  forgotten  pamphlets  and  some  un- 
important journalism.  Grote  sat  in  Parliament  as 
member  for  the  City  of  London  from  1832  to  1841, 
and  held  a  leading  position  among  the  section  of 
philosophical  Radicals.  His  retirement  in  1841,  when 
his  chances  of  re-election  were  extremely  doubtful,  is 
generally  attributed  to  a  desire  to  continue  his  work 
on  the  "  History  of  Greece, "  which  had  been  com- 
menced several  years  before.  The  first  volumes, 
however,  were  not  published  till  1846,  and  the 
publication  of  the  work  extended  over  a  period  of 
ten  years,  the  last  volume  appearing  in  1856.  Grote's 
"  History  of  Greece  "  is  undoubtedly  a  work  of  con- 
siderable value,  though  lacking  the  literary  merit 
which  we  find  in  that  of  Thirlwall.  It  is  an  extraor- 
dinarily elaborate  work,  which  contains  perhaps  all 
that  can  be  said — or  could  be  said  then — on  its  subject, 
and  enters  at  great  length  upon  many  matters,  appar- 
ently of  detail,  which  less  careful  historians  are  apt  to 
slur  over.  Though  we  cannot  say  that  it  contains 


Influenced 
in  early  life 
by  Jas.Mill. 


"  Statement 
of  the  Ques- 
tion of  Par- 
liamentary 
Reform,'' 
1821. 


"  History  of 

Greece,'^ 

1846-1856. 


Its  detailed 
and  elabo- 
rate char- 
acter. 


196 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


A  "  Review 
of  John 
Stuart  Mill's 
Examination 
of  Sir  Wil- 
liam  Hamil- 
ton's Phi- 
losophy," 
1868. 

"  Personal 
Life  of 
George 
Grote," 
i873- 

Mrs.  Harriet 
Grote,  1792- 
1878. 

"  Memoir  of 
Ary  Schef- 
fer,"i86o. 

Biographers 


nothing  but  information,  there  can  certainly  be  little 
complaint  as  to  anything  being  left  out,  and  to  the 
student,  whose  interest  in  history  is  limited  to  facts, 
there  is  much  to  be  learned  from  Grote.  It  may  be 
said  that  he  occasionally  is  too  exact  in  following 
the  ancient  historians  ;  his  account  of  the  Athenian 
expedition  against  Syracuse  and  the  earlier  years  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  generally,  being  little  more  than 
a  translation  from  Thucydides,  including  even  the 
imaginary  speeches  put  by  that  great  historian  into 
the  mouths  of  the  various  statesmen  and  ambas- 
sadors of  his  period.  As  a  literary  work,  the  prolix 
and  tedious  history  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any 
merit.  In  later  life,  Grote  devoted  himself  more  to 
the  study  of  Greek  philosophy,  his  principal  works  in 
this  line  being  his  "Plato  and  other  Companions  of 
Socrates/'  published  in  1865,  and  his  "Aristotle," 
which  was  not  completed  at  his  death  in  1871.  He 
also  published  in  1868  a  "  Review  of  John  Stuart 
Mill's  Examination  of  Sir  William  Hamilton's  Phi- 
losophy," originally  contributed  to  the  "  Westminster 
Review."  A  biography  entitled  the  "  Personal  Life 
of  George  Grote  "  was  published  in  1873  by  his  widow, 
Mrs.  Harriet  Grote  (1792-1878),  who  was  already 
known  in  the  ranks  of  literature  by  her  "  Memoir 
of  the  Life  of  Ary  Scheffer"  (1860),  and  other 
works. 

It  is  always  a  somewhat  difficult  task  to  apportion 
biographers  their  exact  place  in  literature.     So  much 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


197 


depends,  not  only  on  the  skill  of  the  writer  and  his 
interest  in  his  work,  but  also  on  the  subjects  that  he 
selects,  that  the  ordinary  rules  of  literary  criticism 
do  not  always  apply.  Much,  too,  seems  to  depend 
on  the  relation  of  the  writer  to  his  subject.  Out  of 
the  three  works  which  we  should  consider  unap- 
proachably the  greatest  biographies  ever  written, 
Tacitus's  Agricola,  Boswell's  Johnson,  and  Lock- 
hart's  Scott,  two  were  written  by  the  sons-in-law  of 
great  men  whom  they  regarded  with  a  really  filial 
devotion.  Boswell,  on  the  other  hand,  had  no  rela- 
tion of  kinship  with  the  subject  of  his  memoir,  but 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  disciple — and  of  a  disciple 
whose  ardour  was  little  restrained  by  the  ordinary 
bounds  of  discretion — here  supplied  all  that  could  be 
implied  in  the  closest  family  ties.  Something  of  the 
same  relation  of  master  and  disciple  marks  a  biogra- 
phy published  in  the  early  years  of  this  reign  to 
which  has  been  ascribed  since  its  first  appearance  a 
measure  of  praise  which  we  own  to  thinking  some- 
what excessive.  Arnold  and  Stanley  had,  indeed, 
been  literally  master  and  pupil  in  the  latter's  school- 
days, but  there  is  something  more  than  this  partly 
accidental  tie  in  the  disciple's  feeling  of  which  we 
have  spoken.  But  before  dealing  with  the  biogra- 
phy, it  is  necessary  we  should  say  something  of  the 
biographer.  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,  son  of  the  Rev- 
erend Edward  Stanley,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Norwich, 
was  born  in  1 8 1 5  and  educated  at  Rugby  under  Arnold, 


and  their 
exact  place 
in  literature. 


Master  and 
pupil. 


Arthur  Pen 
rhyn  Stan- 
ley, 1815- 


198 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Life  of 
Arnold," 
1844. 


A  work  of 
loyal  affec- 
tion. 


and  at  Balliol,  where  he  distinguished  himself  greatly, 
taking  almost  all  the  prizes  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  get.  His  attachment  to  his  old  schoolmaster, 
of  whom  he  also  had  personal  knowledge  as  a  friend 
of  his  father's,  seems  never  to  have  been  interrupted 
from  the  early  Rugby  days,  in  which  he  had  learned 
to  look  up  to  him  with  something  more  than  the 
reverence  of  a  favourite  pupil.  At  the  time  of 
Arnold's  terribly  sudden  death,  Stanley  was  staying 
in  his  house,  and  had  the  painful  task  of  conveying 
the  news  to  such  of  his  children  as  were  not  present. 
He  was  at  once,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  regarded  as  the 
proper  person  to  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  record- 
ing Arnold's  life,  and  old  friends  of  the  latter  holding 
the  highest  positions  in  the  kingdom  were  pleased  to 
join  in  helping  this  brilliant  young  man  with  all  the 
materials  at  their  disposal.  The  result  was  the 
"  Life  of  Arnold,"  published  in  two  volumes  in  1844, 
and  at  once  received  with  a  chorus  of  approval,  due 
perhaps  chiefly  to  its  subject,  but  which  has  hardly 
diminished  in  the  course  of  time  even  now,  when 
both  Arnold  and  Stanley  have  become  men  of  the 
past.  It  is  certainly  a  work  of  loyal  affection, 
written  with  the  sole  object  of  setting  before  the 
world  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  his  master,  the 
author  modestly  effacing  himself  entirely  from  the 
record.  To  us  it  certainly  bears  an  appearance  of 
diffuseness  and  verbosity  resulting  in  part  from  the 
extremely  minute  analysis  of  Arnold's  conduct  and 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


199 


motives  in  every  branch  of  life,  which  we  are  in- 
clined to  think,  at  the  present  time  at  least,  some- 
what superfluous.  The  arrangement,  too,  is  faulty, 
the  separation  of  the  text  of  the  biography  from  the 
very  numerous  letters  published  along  with  it,  con- 
tributing to  deprive  the  former  of  its  energy  and  the 
latter  of  its  interest.  The  popularity  of  the  work, 
however,  as  we  have  said,  has  in  no  way  decreased. 
Stanley  was  also  a  fertile  writer  on  other  subjects, 
his  "  History  of  the  Jewish  Church  "  being  perhaps 
his  most  celebrated  work,  while  his  "Sinai  and 
Palestine  "  (1853),  is  still  considered  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  contributions  to  a  subject  which  never 
stands  still.  It  was  perhaps,  however,  principally  by 
his  personal  gifts  that  Stanley  attained  his  high  posi- 
tion in  the  Church  and  in  the  world  generally.  He 
was  appointed  a  Canon  of  Canterbury  in  1850,  and 
Dean  of  Westminster  in  1863,  retaining  that  office  up 
to  his  death  in  1881.  He  was  also  Professor  of  Eccle- 
siastical History  at  Oxford,  and  was  twice  selected 
preacher  to  that  University. 

Some  valuable  collections  of  biographies  have 
also  to  be  recorded.  Few  more  important  contri- 
butions to  this  department  of  history  can  be  found 
than  Campbell's  Chancellors  and  Hook's  Archbishops 
of  Canterbury.  The  elder  of  these  writers,  John 
Campbell,  the  son  of  a  minister  at  Cupar-Fife,  and 
of  course  a  descendant  of  the  house  of  Argyll,  was 
born  in  1779,  and  educated  at  the  University  of 


"  History  of 
the  Jewish 
Church." 


"  Sinai  and 
Palestine," 
1853- 


Canon  of 

Canterbury, 

1850. 

Dean  of 

Westminster 
1863. 

Professor  of 
Ecclesias- 
tical History 
at  Oxford. 


Lord  Camp 
jell,  1779- 
1861. 


2OO 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Lord  Chan- 
cellor of 
Ireland, 
1841. 

Lord  Chan- 
cellor of 
England, 
1857. 


Raised  to 
the  Peerage, 
1841. 


"  Lives  of 
the  Lord 
Chancel- 
lors," 1845- 
1847. 

Supplement- 
ary volume, 
1869. 


St.  Andrews.  He  was  at  first  intended  for  the 
Church,  but  afterwards  chose  the  bar  as  a  profession, 
in  which  he  rose  to  great  eminence,  being  appointed 
Q.  C.  in  1827,  Solicitor-General  in  1832,  Attorney- 
General  in  1834,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  in  1841, 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Queen's  Bench  in  1850, 
and  finally  Lord  Chancellor  of  England  in  1857.  He 
had  also  held  other  non-legal  posts  in  the  adminis- 
tration, and  sat  in  the  House  of  Commons  from  1831 
till  he  was  raised  to  the  Peerage  in  1841,  by  the  title 
of  Lord  Campbell.  It  was  about  this  time,  when 
he  had  gone  out  of  office  with  Lord  Melbourne's 
Ministry,  that  he  found  time  to  devote  himself  to 
literature.  He  had  already  written  books  on  legal 
and  political  questions,  but  his  mind  was  now  bent 
on  a  more  purely  literary  success.  He  thought  for  a 
while  of  a  "  History  of  the  Long  Parliament,"  then 
of  a  series  of  lives  of  the  Irish  Chancellors,  which 
he  gave  up  as  not  likely  to  prove  interesting.  The 
first  volume  of  his  "Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors  and 
Keepers  of  the  Great  Seal  of  England"  was  published 
in  1845,  the  third  in  1847,  a  supplementary  volume, 
containing  the  lives  of  his  contemporaries,  Lords 
Lyndhurst  and  Brougham,  after  his  death  in  1869. 
These  biographies  are  carelessly  written  in  an 
extremely  slovenly  style,  and  are  in  many  cases 
inaccurate  and  unjust ;  but  they  never  fail  to  keep 
up  their  interest,  and  especially  in  the  latest  volumes, 
where  Campbell  is  writing  of  his  own  time,  are  full 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


201 


of  vivacity, — of  prejudice,  too,  it  is  said,  perhaps 
more  than  the  previous  ones, — but  one  can  safely 
say  of  all  Campbell's  biographical  work,  that  the 
unpardonable  sin  of  dulness  is  not  included  in  the  list 
of  his  transgressions.  To  the  "Chancellors"  succeed- 
ed the  "Livesof  the  Lord  Chief  Justices"  (1849-57), 
to  which  may  be  generally  applied  what  we  have 
said  of  the  earlier  work.  It  does  not  come  within 
our  province  to  speak  of  Lord  Campbell's  eminence 
as  a  lawyer.  He  died  in  1861. 

The  biographer  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury 
moved  in  a  very  different  sphere.  Walter  Farquhar 
Hook,  son  of  James  Hook,  Dean  of  Worcester, 
known  chiefly  for  his  musical  talents,  and  nephew  of 
Theodore  Hook,  was  born  in  1798,  and  educated  at 
Winchester  and  Christ  Church.  In  1821  he  was 
ordained  and  became  curate  to  his  father,  then 
rector  of  Whippingham  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
after  various  changes  was  promoted  in  1837  to  the 
important  post  of  Vicar  of  Leeds,  which  he  continued 
to  hold  for  more  than  twenty  years.  His  eccle- 
siastical opinions  originally  inclined  towards  the 
strong  High  Church  party,  who  were  paramount  at 
Oxford  in  the  commencement  of  the  reign,  and  his 
great  sermon,  "Hear  the  Church,"  preached  before 
Her  Majesty  in  the  Chapel  Royal  in  1838,  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  effective  utterances  on  that 
side.  Hook,  however,  was  not  inclined  to  go  so 
far  as  the  other  leaders  of  the  Oxford  movement,  and 


"  Lives  of 
the  Lord 
Chief  Jus- 
tices," 1849- 


Diedini86i. 


Walter  Far- 
quhar Hook. 


"  Hear  the 
Church," 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


'•'  Lives  of 
the  Arch- 
bishops of 
Canter- 
bury," 1861, 


"  Church 
Dictionary.'1 


Samuel 
Smiles,  1816. 


his  views  became  much  modified  in  course  of  time. 
In  1859  ne  was  appointed  Dean  of  Chichester,  which 
post  he  retained  till  his  death  in  1875,  steadily  refus- 
ing the  offers  of  promotion  which  were  continually 
pressed  upon  him.  It  was  at  Chichester  that  he 
achieved  his  great  literary  work,  the  "Lives  of  the 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury,"  of  which  the  first  volume 
appeared  in  1861,  and  the  eleventh  and  last  just  after 
his  death  in  1875.  He  was  not  able,  however,  to 
carry  on  the  series  beyond  Archbishop  Juxon,  whose 
episcopate  closed  a  few  years  after  the  Restoration. 
Hook's  "Lives"  are  undoubtedly  of  considerable 
historical  value,  and  show  much  care  and  research, 
but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  are  occasionally 
one-sided  and  too  frequently  heavy.  Hook  was 
also  the  author  of  many  works  on  ecclesiastical  and 
other  subjects,  of  which  the  best  known  is  probably 
his  "Church  Dictionary,"  published  in  1842. 

The  record  of  authors  who  devoted  themselves  to 
biography  on  a  large  scale  can  hardly  be  closed 
without  a  reference  to  a  most  diligent  worker  who  is 
still  living  and  at  work.  Samuel  Smiles,  in  his  early 
days  a  man  of  various  professions,  as  surgeon, 
journalist,  and  secretary  to  various  railway  com- 
panies, has  during  a  long  and  useful  career  produced 
a  great  number  of  works,  chiefly  designed  to  point 
out  the  manner  in  which  men  of  talents  have 
struggled  on,  in  spite  of  difficulties,  to  a  position  for 
which  their  origin  and  education  did  not  seem  to 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


203 


qualify  them.  Among  his  best  known  works  are 
the  "  Life  of  George  Stephenson "  (1857),  "Self- 
Help  ;  with  illustrations  of  Character  and  Conduct  " 
(1859),  the  "Lives  of  Engineers,  with  an  Account 
of  their  Works  "  (1861),  and  the  "Scottish  Naturalist," 
one  of  the  best  of  the  series.  Mr.  Smiles  has  also 
contributed  largely  to  the  "Quarterly  Review"  and 
other  periodical  literature. 


CHAPTER  V. 


OF  THE  GREATER  VICTORIAN  POETS. 


WE  had  little  reason  to  expect  that  the  reign 
Queen  Victoria  should  have  been  distinguished  as  an 
age  of  the  highest  poetry.  The  preceding  fifty  years 
had  given  birth  to  the  noblest  school  of  poets  since 
Queen  Elizabeth's  "spacious  times,"  and  it  would 
have  been  natural  to  look  for  a  period  otreldche, — a 
dying  out  of  the  great  fires  and  paling  and  cooling 
of  nature,  after  an  effort  so  immense  as  that  which 
produced  a  band  so  great  and  so  different  as  Words- 
worth and  Coleridge  on  one  hand,  and  Byron  and 
Shelley  on  another.  But  happily  for  the  wealth  and 
honour  of  our  age,  this  was  not  so  ;  and  Wordsworth 
had  not  ceased  to  write,  when  there  arose  from  the 
very  bosom  of  the  young  generation  the  new  music 
and  individual  voice  of  Alfred  Tennyson — this  time 


"  Life  of 
George  Ste- 
phenson." 
"  Self- 
Help." 

"  Lives  of 
Engineers." 

"  Robert 
Dick,  the 
Scottish 
Naturalist." 


ofTh 


pros- 
pect at  the 
dawn  of  the 
Victorian 
Era. 


Alfred 

Tennyson, 

1809-93. 


204 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Tirabuc- 
too." 


"  Poems  by 

Two 

Brothers." 


no  voice  of  the  mountains,  no  defiant  challenge  oi 
society,  no  weird  strain  out  of  the  unseen — but  the 
most  English  of  poetry,  with  the  inspiration  in  it  of 
the  plains  and  low-lying  levels,  the  rich  and  quiet 
fields,  the  midland  country,  with  Locksley  Hall  lying 
in  the  wide  landscape  of  its  meadows,  and  the  prob- 
lems of  actual  life  and  thought  replacing  all  tumults 
and  commotions  of  a  revolutionary  age.  The  new 
poet,  born  in  1809,  was  the  son  of  a  Lincolnshire 
clergyman  of  good  family  and  connection,  coming 
out  of  the  very  heart  of  long-established  and  tranquil 
living,  the  parsonage  and  the  hall,  and  trained  among 
his  peers  at  Cambridge,  uneccentric,  breaking  no 
bonds  of  life.  His  first  production  of  all  was  a  prize 
poem  on  the  very  unattractive  subject  of  "  Timbuc- 
too  " — of  which,  as  of  other  prize  poems,  the  world 
knows  little.  In  1830,  as  he  touched  the  first  edge  of 
manhood,  he  brought  out  a  modest  volume  in  concert 
with  a  brother.  Two  brothers  of  Lord  Tennyson  in- 
deed have  shown  poetical  power,  and  contributed 
some  poems  to  literature,  which,  but  for  the  over- 
powering fame  of  the  chief  singer  of  the  name, 
would  have  received  more  recognition.  But  it  is 
natural  that  in  the  extreme  light  of  his  pre-eminence 
their  individual  work  should  have  been  thrown  into 
the  background.  Another  volume  of  poems  fol- 
lowed in  1832,  and  two  volumes  in  1842,  when  his 
reputation  may  be  said  to  have  been  established, 
though  amid  many  criticisms  and  protestations. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


205 


"School-Miss  Alfred,"  with  his  "blue  fly  singing 
in  the  pane,"  made  much  sport  for  a  certain  class 
of  writers,  and  the  poems  addressed  to  "Airy  Fairy 
Lilian  "  and  other  beauties  of  her  kind,  though  already 
distinguished  by  much  beautiful  versification,  af- 
forded naturally  to  the  adversary  much  occasion  to 
blaspheme.  To  write  "Who  would  not  be  a  Mer- 
man bold  ? "  was  to  tempt  the  contemporary  critic 
beyond  all  power  of  self-restraint.  The  wonderful 
picture,  however,  of  Locksley  Hall  and  its  story,  so 
skilfully  told  with  an  entirely  new  power  of  sug- 
gestive narrative,  took  possession  at  once  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  and  imagination,  a  result  which  the  extra- 
ordinarily clever  parody  produced  by  Professor 
Aytoun  and  Sir  Theodore  Martin  in  the  Bon  Gaultier 
Ballads  rather  contributed  to,  than  lessened,  while 
such  poems  as  "The  Two  Voices,"  "The  Lotus- 
Eaters,"  etc.,  seized  the  attention  of  the  higher  critic, 
and  the  "Queen  of  the  May"  charmed  the  multi- 
tude less  capable  of  high  comprehension. 

These  early  volumes  were  chiefly  composed  of  the 
shorter  poems  which,  in  almost  all  cases,  form  a 
poet's  chief  charter  and  title  to  universal  fame,  but  Mr. 
Tennyson's  reputation  was  so  completely  established 
by  the  time  his  "Princess"  appeared  in  1847,  that 
there  was  no  house  in  the  country  interested  in 
poetry  or  the  highest  literature  where  this  new  work 
was  not  eagerly  received  and  discussed  as  one  of  the 
chief  topics  of  the  day.  Such  a  warmth  of  contem- 


"Airy  Fairy 
Lilian." 


"  Locksley 
Hall." 


Parody  in 
the  Bon 
Gaultier 
Ballads. 


"  The  Lotus>- 
Eaters  " 
and  the 
"  Queen     of 
the  May." 


"  Princess," 
1847. 


206 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Full  of 
snatches  of 
exquisite 
song. 


"  In  Merao- 
riam,"  1850. 


Receives  the 
post  of  Lau- 
reate. 


A  strain  of 
almost  unex- 
ampled me- 
lody. 


porary  interest  does  not  always  secure  the  final  ver- 
dict of  fame,  but  it  always  shows  the  immediate 
grasp  which  a  writer  has  attained  of  the  mind  of  his 
time.  The  fantastic  theme  of  this  beautiful  poem 
was  rather  calculated  to  dismay  than  to  increase  the 
interest  of  the  public,  nor  was  there  anything  novel 
in  the  treatment  of  the  "woman  question  "  suggested 
in  it ;  but  it  was  full  of  poetry,  and  the  snatches  of 
exquisite  song  which  broke  into  the  narrative  here 
and  there,  were  like  the  little  melodies  in  a  piece  of 
scientific  music,  grateful  and  delightful  to  the  com- 
mon ear.  It  can  scarcely  be  said,  however,  that  this 
poem  added  much  to  the  writer's  fame,  and  it  was 
not  perhaps  till  the  publication  of  "  In  Memoriam," 
in  1850,  that  Mr.  Tennyson  assumed  the  supreme 
position  which  he  has  always  fully  maintained : 
although  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  same  year, 
but  before  that  publication,  that  he  received  the  pos+ 
of  Laureate,  with  a  sort  of  universal  consent  of 
Society,  nobody  venturing  to  suggest  a  more  worthy 
bearer  of  the  wreath.  Criticism  has  died  away  into  an 
almost  sacred  respect  for  this  unique  poem  ;  but  nat- 
urally this  was  not  the  case  when  it  first  appeared, 
when  it  was  very  sharply,  not  to  say  contemptu- 
ously, hacked  to  pieces  by  the  haste  of  contempo- 
rary opinion,  the  occasionally  harsh  verses  which 
occur  here  and  there  in  a  strain  of  almost  unex- 
ampled melody,  and  into  which  the  philosophy  of 
his  theme  led  him,  held  up  to  public  remark,  as 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


207 


well  as  that  philosophy  itself  which  was  assailed 
by  all  the  darts  of  both  orthodox  and  sceptical  op- 
position. These  outcries,  however,  which  are  sure 
to  attend  the  production  of  every  work  of  import- 
ance, were  soon  hushed  in  the  universal  adoption 
of  this  wonderful  poem  into  the  very  heart  of  hearts 
of  the  English-speaking  world.  It  was  said  to  be  a 
profanation  of  grief  laying  it  bare  to  the  public  eye 
— as  it  was  said  also  that  the  author's  claim  to  repre- 
sent the  anguish  of  loss  when  what  he  had  lost  was 
"only  a  friend"  was  a  presumptuous  assumption  of 
experience  which  belonged  to  more  poignant  and  in- 
timate bereavement.  The  fact  remains  that  no  such 
representation  of  the  mind  of  grief  was  ever  written. 
It  is  not  an  elegy  like  Lycidas  ;  it  is  not  a  song  of 
consolation,  such  as  those  in  which  many  inferior 
voices  have  attempted  to  persuade  the  mourner  that 
he  ought  to  rejoice  instead  of  grieving.  It  is  sorrow 
itself  which  takes  the  word,  embodying  as  no  poet 
has  ever  done  before,  the  long  discursive  wanderings 
of  melancholy  thought,  the  mingled  train  of  recol- 
lections— sudden  pictures  of  the  past  disclosing 
themselves  through  those  tears  which  are  never  long 
absent  from  the  musing  eyes,  sudden  arrows  of  a  re- 
membered word  passing  swift  through  the  heart,  and 
all  returning  and  returning  like  the  flight  of  a  bird, 
however  long  he  may  have  been  on  the  wing,  to  the 
one  point,  the  central  fact  of  the  universe  to  the 
mourner — the  certainty  that  "he  whom  thou  lovest 


Not  an  elegy 
nor  song  of 
consolation. 


Unparalleled 
beauty  of  its 
conception. 


208 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  secret  of 
its  power. 


Its  form  and 

inspiration 

perfect. 


is  dead."  It  is  not  in  the  first  anguish  of  such  a  catas- 
trophe that  one  would  put  "In  Memoriam  "  into  the 
sufferer's  hands,  but  a  little  later,  when  he  has  begun 
to  feel  how,  amid  all  the  enforcements  of  external  life, 
and  all  the  efforts  of  returning  vitality,  his  thoughts 
return  with  a  persistent  force  which  is  beyond  his 
control  to  the  vacant  place  which  makes  the  whole 
world  empty  of  attraction  ;  and  that  not  only  through 
the  great  questions  which  arise  from  this  void,  and 
the  mysteries  that  surround  it,  but  by  a  hundred 
trivial  things  which  are  all  pervaded  by  that  thread, 
and  bring  him  back  and  back  to  the  one  unchang- 
ing fact  which  is  the  centre  of  all.  This  is  the  secret 
of  the  power  of  a  poem  which  is  to  many  a  sacred 
thing  like  nothing  else  in  the  world.  The  form  as 
well  as  the  inspiration  is  perfect  for  this  hallowed 
purpose.  "The  swallow  flights  of  song  that  dip 
their  wings  in  tears,"  carrying  the  mind  with  them 
again  into  many  a  flight  of  its  own,  the  constant  re- 
turn, dropping  from  pensive  skies  of  twilight,  or  the 
blaze  of  the  remembered  sunshine  that  can  shine  no 
more,  to  that  green  spot  where  the  beloved  is  not  ; 
and  the  realization  of  life  which  is  no  longer  a  joy- 
ful interdependence  as  when  two  walked  together  in 
the  golden  fields,  but  now  a  lonely  path  among  the 
thorns.  The  poet  gathers  up  mournfully  all  those 
links  of  association  by  which  every  trivial  moment 
and  movement  are  connected  with  the  departed 
time,  and  notes  every  unseen  and  silent  variation  of 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  7VRE. 


209 


the  mind  which,  like  the  song  of  the  linnet,  "  now  is 
gay  "  because  her  little  ones  are  safe,  and 

"  Now  is  sad,  her  note  is  changed 
Because  her  brood  is  stolen  away ; " 

or,  like  the  blind  man  in  his  chair,  beating  out  the 
measure  of  time  with  the  absorption  of  the  unseeing. 

"  Whose  inner  light  can  never  die, 
Whose  night  of  loss  is  ever  there." 

The  young  man  whose  death  made  his  friend 
capable  of  this  strange  insight  into  all  the  ways 
sorrow,  Arthur  Hallam,  was  himself  little  more  than 
a  hope  unfulfilled.  His  pathetic  little  "Remains" 
do  not  even  seem  to  convey  to  the  reader  the 
promises  which  all  his  youthful  circle  saw  in  him  : 
— a  conclusion  not  by  any  means  unusual — yet  in 
inspiring  and  making  possible  this  great  poem  he 
has  had  an  unusual  fate. 

The  "  Ode  for  the  Funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton," which  was  published  impressively  on  the  morn- 
ing of  one  of  the  most  imposing  public  ceremonies 
of  the  age,  the  burial  of  that  great  chief  by  his  country 
with  mournful  congress  of  all  classes,  was  Mr. 
Tennyson's  first  tribute  in  his  office  of  Laureate.  It 
is  perhaps  the  finest  of  the  odes  on  public  events 
which  have  from  time  to  time  stirred  the  heart  of 
the  nation,  rolling  forth  its  muffled  drums,  sounding  its 
great  peal  of  lamentation  in  a  strain  that  is  worthy 

14 


Ode  for  the 
funeral  of  the 
Duke  of 
Welling- 
ton." 


His  first  trib. 
ute  as  Lau. 
reate. 


210 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


The  gran- 
deur  of    its 
verse. 


"  Charge   of 
the  Light 
Brigade." 


of  an  empire's  mourning.  The  grandeur  yet  self-re- 
straint of  the  great  verse,  like  its  subject,  the  dramatic 
yet  solemn  question,  "Who  is  he  that  cometh?" 
the  impressive  beauty  of  the  answer, 

"  Mighty  seaman,  this  is  he 
Was  great  by  land  as  thou  by  sea," 

and  the  repeated  proclamation  of  noble  duty  as  higher 
than  glory,  embody  all  that  fame  would  say.  And 
arises  the  assurance, 

"  Whatever  record  come  to  light, 
He  never  shall  be  shamed," 

then  and  the  burst  of 

"  Honour,  honour,  honour,  honour  to  him, 
Eternal  honour  to  his  name<  " 

The  sound  of  the  mourning  of  a  mighty  nation  was 
never  more  nobly  set  forth. 

This  great  poem  is,  however,  perhaps  less  univer- 
sally popular  than  the  ' '  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade, " 
which  soon  after  gave  to  one  of  the  most  tragic  in- 
cidents of  the  Crimean  War  a  poetical  immortality 
such  as  seldom  arises  on  the  immediate  stroke  of 
any  great  feat  of  arms.  The  minstrel  strain  is 
changed ;  it  has  not  the  amplification  or  the  detail 
of  classic  times  ;  but  still  it  strikes  like  a  trumpet 
note  across  the  calm  levels  of  life,  and  gives  to 
valour  its  meed  as  in  Homeric  days.  One  curious 
nineteenth-century  difference  (if  we  may  yield  so 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


211 


much  to  fashion  as  to  ascribe  to  abstract  motive 
what  was  demanded  by  the  character  of  the  court) 
is,  that  it  is  no  chief  or  leader,  but  the  nameless, 
heroic  common  duty  which  took  no  time  to  inquire 
whether  "some  one  had  blundered,"  which  is  here 
celebrated  before  earth  and  heaven.  From  Homer 
to  Scott  it  had  been  the  man  who  was  the  theme ; 
here  it  was  the  men,  the  nameless  workers  out  of  a 
rash  meaning  not  their  own. 

The  next  production  of  Tennyson's  genius  was 
also  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  the  war  time ;  the 
idea  suddenly  revealed  to  an  age  which  had  sunk 
into  the  apathy  of  physical  well-being,  of  certain 
high  advantages  to  the  common  weal,  of  the  possible 
dissipation  of  the  ties  of  peace — a  strange  thought 
for  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  had 
plumed  itself  on  a  wisdom  superior  to  its  predecessors 
and  believed  itself  to  have  beaten  the  old  swords 
into  pruning  hooks,  and  attained  a  happiness  and 
perfection  unexampled  in  earlier  ages.  It  was  the 
purpose  of  "Maud"  to  show  with  what  dull  deteriora- 
tions and  smug  mediocrity  this  complacent  peace 
had  been  accompanied,  and  how  wholesome  was 
the  blast  of  tempest  which  blew  so  many  cobwebs 
away,  and  roused  the  old  manful  spirit  in  the  race. 
This,  however,  was  perhaps  too  artificial  an  aim  for 
poetry,  and  it  was  the  exquisite  construction  of  the 
little  drama,  the  wonderful  picture  it  gave  of  a  young 
man's  love,  and  the  still  more  exquisite  songs  with 


Its  theme. 


"  Maud," 


Purpose  and 
exquisite 
construction 
of  the  poem. 


213 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Idyls  of 
the  King," 


*  Elaine." 
"  Enid    and 
Geraint." 


which  it  was  threaded  through,  which  secured  its 
instant  acceptance  by  all  readers.  The  intoxication 
of  that  climax  of  youthful  feeling,  the  visionary 
adoration,  "There  is  none  like  her,  none,"  the 
paths  that  grow  rosy  under  her  feet,  the  vita  nuova 
which  uplifts  both  above  the  earth,  floating  them  up- 
ward into  a  paradise  of  imagination  and  feeling,  has 
never  been  more  exquisitely  expressed.  It  is  less 
inpassioned  than  Romeo  with  Juliet,  less  dreamy 
than  Dante  with  Beatrice,  yet  we  may  venture  to 
place  it  in  its  lesser  perfection  beside  these  two  in 
kind  if  not  in  degree — which  is  the  greatest  thing 
that  can  be  said  for  any  poem.  There  are  drawbacks 
in  the  long  soliloquies  of  the  hero's  madness  and 
his  commentaries  on  contemporary  subjects,  which 
sometimes  jar  upon  the  ear,  but  the  heart  and  centre  of 
the  poem,  the  love-tale,  is  above  all  words  of  praise. 
It  is  delicate  and  perfect  in  art,  as  was  the  prose 
romance  of  "  Esmond,''  which  had  appeared  a  few 
years  before,  though  there  is  of  course  no  other 
analogy  between  these  two  works. 

Three  years  later,  Mr.  Tennyson  began  the  publica- 
tion of  his  "Idyls  of  the  King."  He  had  already  in- 
deed given  a  foretaste  of  that  section  of  his  work  in  the 
"Morte  d' Arthur,"  published  in  one  of  his  early  vol- 
umes. The  first  series  of  these  contained  the  lovely 
romance  of  "Elaine,"  the  protracted  but  beautiful 
toryof  "Enid and  Geraint, "and  the  one  marked  and 
notable  study  of  evil  (very  modern  and  nineteenth 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE, 


213 


century  corruption  in  the  midst  of  the  heroic  age 
of  romance)  which  is  the  theme  in  ' '  Vivien" — besides 
the  central  thread  of  the  great  tale,  the  wonderful 
poetic  conception  of  Lancelot  and  that  "  faith  un- 
faithful "  which  made  him  "falsely  true,"  the  great 
figures  of  the  blameless  king  and  the  majestic 
Guinevere.  This  first  volume  was  the  most  powerful 
and  has  remained  the  most  popular  of  the  series. 
Amid  the  wonderful  group  around  whom  and  whose 
story  all  other  interests  centre,  and  whose  sway  and 
influence  are  the  inspiration  of  the  whole,  Lancelot 
stands  forth  as  the  one  distinct  creation  which  our 
poet's  noble  genius  has  given  to  the  world.  The 
blameless  king  is  not  sufficiently  individualised  to 
count  in  this  way.  Perfection  of  character  has 
always  indeed  this  drawback,  that  is  difficult  to 
identify  and  fix  it  upon  the  human  imagination. 
The  conception  of  Guinevere  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
be  original  at  all.  She  is  a  woman  of  grand  propor- 
tions, but  no  individual  distinction.  The  sweet 
Elaine  is  a  vision  of  youth  and  love,  and  the  vision- 
ary impatience  of  despair.  Enid  is  a  womanly 
shadow  of  the  too-much  patience  of  the  mediaeval 
ideal,  like  Griselda.  Lancelot  alone  has  added  a 
living  and  most  notable  being  to  the  world,  the  very 
perfect  gentle  knight  of  Chaucer,  with  the  tragic  soul 
in  him  of  a  guilt  which  is  against  all  his  perfection,  yet 
part  of  it,  contrary  to  every  tradition  of  his  nature, 
yet  its  chief  motive  and  feature  to  add  at  once  the  com- 


'  Vivien." 


1  Lancelot." 


"Guine- 
vere," 


"  Enid.' 


214 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


plication  which  the  modern  mind  demands,  and  a 
deep  and  terrible  principle  of  humanity  to  the  ideal. 
The  noble  spirit  overborne  by  this  shadow,  never  able 
to  escape  from  it,  his  honour  rooted  in  dishonour,  is 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  attempts  of  poetry  to 
realize  the  highest  imagination.  It  is  not  so  lofty 
nor  so  elevated  as  Hamlet,  whose  great  soul  has  no 
such  clog ;  and  yet  the  romance  and  tragedy  of  that 
burden  attracts  many  minds  even  more.  The 
character  of  Lancelot  and  the  poems  that  are  devoted 
to  him,  or  in  which  he  appears,  mark  the  highest 
point  of  Lord  Tennyson's  poetry,  whose  genius,  how- 
ever, must  be  allowed  to  be  not  dramatic  in  any  Shake- 
spearian sense.  There  is,  however,  something  almost 
as  masterly  and  fine  in  the  remarkable  power  of  con- 
struction which  links  these  poems  together,  showing 
how  Arthur's  throne  was  established  and  flourished 
in  purity,  and  how  the  unnoted  evil  crept  in,  till  by 
degrees  all  was  resolved  again  into  the  elements, 
which  belong  to  the  highest  region  of  poetic  art. 


Marks  the 
highest  point 
of  Lord 
Tennyson's 
poetry. 


"  The  little  rift  within  the  lute 
Which  by-and-bye  will  make  the  music  mute.  .  ." 

is  revealed  to  us  with  consummate  skill ;  and  all  the 
lesser  histories  which  the  reader  found  so  much  less 
attractive  than  the  first,  are  by  degrees  perceived  to  be 
so  by  the  intention  and  self-denial  of  the  artist,  whose 
purpose  was  not  to  enchant  the  world  with  ever  a 
new  tale  more  perfect  than  the  last,  but  to  show  how 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


2IS 


the  pure  atmosphere  of  the  ideal  kingdom  was  dis- 
turbed, its  unity  broken,  and  the  noble  meaning 
stolen  away.  As  this  disintegration  goes  on  we  are 
slowly  brought  to  see  how  the  chivalrous  rule  of  re- 
dressing wrong  and  protecting  the  weak  was  no  longer 
enough  for  the  self-convicted  warriors,  whose  wild 
quest  of  the  Holy  Grail  was  but  the  climax  of  their 
previous  wanderings,  though  this  time  it  was  a  des- 
perate desire  to  save  themselves  from  moral  destruc- 
tion by  a  miraculous  agency,  and  not  the  divergence 
of  individual  passion  and  sin,  which  led  them  away. 
The  final  destruction  of  Arthur's  kingdom  which  fol- 
lowed upon  that  last  effort  after  something  better 
than  possible  life  (yet  was  full  of  noble  individual 
traits,  such  as  the  honest  devotion  of  the  good  Sir 
Bors,  whose  object  was  to  save  Lancelot  rather  than 
to  gain  privilege  for  himself),  is  a  truth  perhaps  too 
subtle  for  the  ordinary  reader,  especially  for  one  who 
takes  the  Idyls  individually  instead  of  as  a  whole, 
but  it  is  the  very  soul  of  the  great  design.  The  dates 
of  the  publications  of  this  great  series  were  :  ' '  Idyls  of 
the  King,"  1858;  "Holy  Grail,"  1869;  "Gareth  and 
Lynette, "  1872.  Interposed  between  came  the  poems 
of '  'Enoch  Arden, "  and  '  'Aylmer's  Field, "  1 864.  '  'The 
Lover's  Tale,"  a  work  of  youth,  1879  >  an<^  finally,  in 
1886,  "Locksley  Hall,"  sixty  years  after,  which  gives 
us  the  matured  and  harmonious  thoughts  of  age  upon 
the  theme  of  youth,  and  is  full  of  a  chastened  beauty  ; 
and  the  brief  collection  of  poems  called  ' '  Demeter,  "in 


"The  Holy 
Grail." 


Dates  of  the 
great  series. 


"  Enoch 
Arden." 
"  Aylmer's 
Field." 
"Locksley 
Hall."     ' 


"  Demeter.' 


2l6 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Lord  Tenny- 
son died  Oct. 
6,  1892. 


Tennyson 
and    Brown- 
ing con- 
trasted. 


1890,  which  would  seem  to  have  included  the  part- 
ing song-  of  the  poet,  were  it  not  that  as  we  write 
still  later  productions  are  being  given  to  the  world. 
The  last  touch  of  autobiography,  so  to  speak,  the  last 
lyric  of  personal  feeling  which  we  have  had  from 
our  poet's  hand,  has  not,  however,  been  superseded, 
and  is  so  exquisite  as  to  form  a  fitting  close  to  his 
long  career  of  stainless  work  and  life. 

It  has  been  the  privilege  of  our  age  to  have  two 
contemporary  poets  both  of  the  highest  class,  ex- 
tremely different  in  everything  but  greatness,  as  it 
has  also  been  its  privilege  to  possess  two  novelists 
of  unusual  powers,  whose  names  must  always  be 
linked  together  in  every  record  of  the  Victorian  age. 
Tennyson  and  Browning  are  the  twin  names  which 
rise  to  every  lip  together,  though  it  would  be  difficult 
to  think  of  any  two  men  whose  genius  was  more 
unlike.  The  verse  of  Lord  Tennyson  is  always  a 
clear  flowing  stream,  pellucid  and  full  of  melody, 
rising  into  sonorous  grandeur,  falling  into  the  most 
harmonious  cadences,  music  learned,  and  suave,  and 
noble,  the  utterances  at  once  of  a  scholar  and  of  one 
of  the  sweetest  voices  of  nature.  Sweetness  is  no- 
where characteristic  of  Browning's  rugged  and  much 
interrupted,  yet  vigorous  and  often  splendid  strain. 
He  does  not  concern  himself  with  its  effect  upon  the 
ear,  but  pours  forth  his  great  verse  with  a  freedom 
from  all  bondage,  either  of  the  rules  of  poetry  or  the 
instinctive  preference  of  nature  for  melodious  utter- 


Lord  Ten  11  r son. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


217 


ance,  which  has  the  first  effect  of  discouraging  or  even 
disgusting  ears  accustomed  to  the  classic  cadences  of 
earlier  poetry.  That  the  reader  soon  becomes  accus- 
tomed to  that  halting  and  broken  measure,  and  that 
its  strange  power  of  expressing  the  equally  broken  and 
irregular  course  of  human  thought  and  passion  is 
wonderful,  exceeding  with  a  sort  of  Gothic  force  and 
richness,  the  serener  chastened  beauty  of  classic  in- 
spiration, is  equally  true ;  but  there  will  always  re- 
main some  who  are  unable  to  surmount  the  first  im- 
pression, and  to  whom  Robert  Browning  will  always 
remain  the  veiled  philosopher  of  Sordello  rather  than 
the  poet  of  Men  and  Women,  the  Seer  whose  divina- 
tion penetrates  the  delicate  heart  of  the  child  martyr 
Pompilia,  as  well  as  of  the  saintly  old  Pope  and  the 
mediaeval  ruffian — the  man  who  has  revealed  to  us  so 
many  corners  of  the  human  heart,  and  followed  so 
many  lines  of  subtle  thought  to  their  fountain-head. 
The  profound  and  tender  reflections  of  In  Memoriam, 
those  soundings  of  the  depths  of  sorrow  and  all  its 
wandering  thoughts,  have  no  place  in  Mr.  Browning's 
poetry.  It  is  his,  not  to  console  us  by  the  company 
of  his  own  brother  soul,  wistfully  interrogating  the 
problems  which  are  to  him  as  to  us  the  first  questions 
in  life  as  they  are  its  last  mysteries,  but  to  descend 
with  his  keen  lantern  into  the  being  of  another  and 
another  fellow-creature,  revealing  how  the  subtle 
currents  flow,  how  the  strange  inspirations  rise,  how 
men  work  out  their  astonishing  story  each  for  him- 


2l8 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  distinc- 
tion between 
the  two  great 
poets. 


Robert 

Browning, 

1812-1880. 


self  in  a  wonderful  darkling  world  of  impulse  and 
motive,  undiscovered  by  any  shining  of  the  sun. 
To  Tennyson  the  romantic,  the  mystic,  the  stories 
of  love  and  death,  the  thoughts  that  search  for  the 
lost  through  earth  and  heaven,  the  ideal  in  all  its 
grace,  the  empire  of  imagination  over  all  the  world ; 
but  to  Browning  the  caverns  and  subterraneous  halls 
of  an  inner  universe,  the  exploration  of  those  rivu- 
lets of  secret  meaning  which  water  the  earth,  the 
mind  within,  which  gives  to  all  outward  action  its 
significance  and  force.  The  French  critics  in  their 
day  made  their  world  ring  with  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  romantic  and  classic  schools  of  art,  a  tire- 
some controversy,  chiefly  about  words.  But  the 
distinction  between  our  two  great  poets  is  more  curi- 
ous, more  interesting  than  any  such  artificial  classi- 
fication. The  one  within,  the  other  without,  they 
have  worked  together  as  few  brothers  in  arms  have 
ever  done,  at  the  exposition  of  mankind  to  man,  the 
first  science  in  the  world,  the  most  curious,  the  most 
majestic,  to  which  no  science  of  the  generation  of 
fishes,  no  theory  of  rocks  and  stones,  no  reconstruc- 
tion of  skeletons  or  sifting  of  cosmic  dust  and  rub- 
bish can  ever  be  compared. 

Robert  Browning  was  born  in  1812,  a  few  years 
younger  than  Lord  Tennyson  and  than  his  own 
poet-wife,  and  was  brought  up  in  a  milieu  and  with 
associations  very  different  from  those  of  the  rural 
gentry  and  University-bred  companions  among 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


219 


whom  Lord  Tennyson's  early  days  were  passed.  If  it 
mattered  what  these  antecedents  were,  he  was  of  the 
class  which  the  French  call  the  haute  bourgeoisie,  a 
title  which  has  no  synonym  in  English,  unless  it 
were  the  vague  term  ' '  middle  class,  "which  has  much 
varied  in  meaning  since  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury. It  then  included  professional  men  of  all 
classes,  and  the  greater  part  of  a  more  or  less  edu- 
cated public,  not  absolutely  included  in  the  "nobility 
and  gentry  "  of  more  formal  nomenclature.  Now 
it  is  not  supposed  to  ascend  above  the  higher  kind 
of  shopkeepers,  a  limit  which  no  doubt  includes 
many  well-educated  and  altogether  worthy  persons  ; 
but  to  this  class  Mr.  Browning  certainly  did  not 
belong.  His  first  poem,  "Pauline,"  was  published 
before  he  had  completed  his  twenty-first  year,  in  1833; 
his  second,  "Paracelsus,"  in  1835;  "  Sordello "  fol- 
io wed  in  1840.  An  intelligent  critic  in  "Tait's  Mag- 
azine," then  an  important  organ  of  literary  opinion, 
spoke  of  the  first  as  "a  piece  of  pure  bewilderment," 
which  is  indeed  the  verdict  which  the  world  in 
general  has  passed  upon  all  those  early  poems,  with  a 
faint  reserve  perhaps  in  favour  of  ' '  Paracelsus. "  We 
need  not  enter  into  any  criticism  of  those  works. 
It  has  been,  we  think,  the  mistaken  aim  of  the  special 
worshippersof  the  poet  to  force  interpretations  and  ex- 
planations, especially  of  "Sordello,  "upon  the  world. 
It  does  not  seem  the  least  likely  that  these  will  ever 
be  successful.  There  will  no  doubt  always  remain 


"  Pauline," 
1833- 


"  Paracel- 
sus," 1835. 
"  Sordello," 


220 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Bells    and 
Pomegran- 
ates." 
"  Pippa 
Passes." 


"  Men  and 
Women." 


some  who,  like  Coleridge's  wedding- guest,  are  chosen 
from  the  beginning  of  time  to  understand  and 
appreciate,  and  to  those  we  may  safely  leave  them. 
After  that  discouraging  preface,  Browning  became 
really  but  slowly  known  to  the  world  in  the  series 
of  works  at  first  entitled  "Bells  and  Pomegranates," 
which  began  with  the  little  lyrical  drama  of  "Pippa 
Passes'/  and  included  a  great  many  of  his  finest 
works.  When  the  public  began  to  understand  what 
he  meant,  which  indeed  was  not  for  a  long  time,  it 
turned  its  ear  very  completely  to  the  poet,  although 
it  still  doubted  its  own  comprehension  of  him,  years 
after  comprehension  had  been  altogether  within  its 
reach.  There  were  always  enthusiastic  admirers  at 
all  times,  and  his  name  had  weight,  and  a  sort  of 
alarmed  respect  attached  to  it  long  before  the  tardy 
applauses  came.  The  ' '  Bells  and  Pomegranates, "  in 
which  many  very  fine  poems  were  printed,  appeared 
at  intervals  from  1841  to  1846,  but  it  was  not  till 
1855,  when  "Men  and  Women"  was  published,  that 
the  balance  actually  turned.  These  wonderful  poems 
might  still  afford  a  roughness  here  and  there,  a 
measure  broken  by  the  very  wealth  of  metaphor  and 
thought,  in  which  the  poet's  mind  luxuriated,  but 
they  could  not  longer  be  kept  back,  even  by  a 
thousand  parentheses  and  digressions,  from  the 
common  intelligence,  which  by  this  time  also  had 
been  trained  to  receive  them.  From  that  period  at 
least,  if  not  before, the  name  of  Browning  assumed 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


221 


its  place  by  the  side  of  Tennyson,  and  the  question 
which  of  the  two  was  greater,  was  one  not  always 
given  on  the  side  of  the  more  quickly  acknowledged 
and  better  known  poet. 

It  is  only  perhaps  in  an  age  which  affords  a  certain 
balance  to  the  abstract  force  of  science  which  is  its 
chief  preoccupation,  by  a  keen  interest  in  human 
character,  the  age  of  the  biographer  and  personal 
historian,  that  these  poems  would  have  been  fully 
felt  and  understood.  It  is  some  compensation  for 
the  predominance  of  the  physical  which  evolution 
would  fain  make  all  in  all,  that  the  development  of 
human  character,  a  thing  so  unaccountable  and  so 
little  capable  of  being  measured  and  classified  (not- 
withstanding the  fashionable  and  feeble  creed  of 
heredity  which  is  so  fallacious  and  inconclusive), 
should  be  the  object  of  so  much  eager  curiosity  and 
thought.  Browning's  power  of  entering  into  the 
mind  of  his  subject  of  the  moment,  of  disclosing 
the  unexpected  turn  of  thought,  the  twists  of  moral 
sentiment,  the  wonderful  way  in  which  each  man 
accounts  for  and  justifies — even  while  sometimes 
accusing — himself,  is  almost  unique  in  poetic  con- 
ception. There  is  much  noble  poetical  description — 
in  which  chiefly  the  art  of  Lord  Tennyson  consists 
— and  there  is  the  dramatic  power  of  representing 
human  creatures  in  action,  which  both  these  poets 
possess  in  some  degree ;  but  the  separate  gift  of 
working  out  character,  passion,  and  life  in  the  inner 


The   age   in 
which  his 
poems  would 
have  been 
felt  and  un- 
derstood. 


222 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  peculiar 
gift. 


'Cleon.' 


'Karshish.' 


Browning's 
power  of 
realisation. 


operations  of  the  mind  itself,  is  the  peculiar  posses- 
sion of  Browning — showing  the  very  spring  and 
motive  of  human  existence,  the  secret  wheels  which 
regulate  the  motion  of  humanity.  The  mournful 
self-revelation  of  the  painter  Andrea,  so  full  of  the 
sentiment  of  better  things,  so  unable  to  overcome 
the  conscious  weakness  of  nature  ;  the  deadly  calm 
of  intellectual  life  moving  blindly,  yet  with  a  melan- 
choly dignity,  against  the  dark  curtains  of  mystery 
which  close  in  the  world  around  them  in  "Cleon,"  and 
sharpened  with  the  keen  touch  of  dawning  science 
in  "  Karshish  ;"  the  sensuous  enjoyment  of  life,  yet 
sense  of  beauty  and  natural  truth  which  light  up 
the  levity  of  the  careless  reveller,  in  the  mediaeval 
monk  Lippo  ;  are,  each  in  itself,  perfect  realisations 
of  individual  consciousness  and  meaning,  the  phi- 
losopher not  less  true  than  the  musing  poet,  or  the 
rosy  friar.  Down  even  to  the  ecclesiastical  man  of 
the  world  in  Bishop  Blougram,  and  the  still  pro  founder 
depths  of  the  shrewd  and  vulgarly  subtle  medium 
Sludge,  the  poet-philosopher  goes  with  his  lantern, 
lighting  up  the  strange  world  that  is  beneath.  They 
all  account  for  themselves,  fit  themselves  into  their 
wonderful  theories  of  the  world,  justify  their  being 
with  an  art  that  is  unquestionable,  which  fulfils  one 
of  the  highest  requirements  of  life,  by  permitting, 
nay,  forcing  us,  to  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of 
each.  That  large  understanding  of  men  which  in 
its  supreme  degree  is  the  root  of  the  compassion 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


223 


and  loving-kindness  of  God,  thus  in  a  finite  measure, 
yet  partaking  of  the  infinite  as  only  genius  and  love 
can  do,  opens  up  for  us  the  secret  heart  and  kernel 
of  the  world. 

In  a  still  higher  degree  this  power  was  manifested  in 
the  extraordinary  pictures  of  The  Ring  and  the  Book. 
There  a  group  of  persons  perform  before  us  a  great 
drama  in  which  the  principal  forces  of  good  and  evil, 
love  and  hatred  are  set  forth  in  the  most  novel  and 
powerful  way.  It  is  not  such  a  drama  as  could  be 
placed  on  any  stage,  the  familiar  skill  of  the  actor 
embodying  for  us  in  broad  lines  some  open  secret  of 
story,  some  certain  combination  of  limited  events — 
showing  how  a  middle-aged  husband,  jealous  of  his 
child-wife,  goaded  her  innocent  soul  with  tyrannies 
and  perversities  until  she  fled  from  him  under  the  care 
of  a  chivalrous  priest,  a  young  man  with  motives  so 
easy  to  misconstrue,  so  difficult  for  the  vulgar  mind 
to  understand.  Such  a  story,  not  over  new,  might 
easily  be  made  into  a  play,  especially  if  priest  and 
lady  were  allowed  to  be  actuated  by  the  old  motif, 
and  passion,  so  called,  triumph  over  their  sorrow 
and  innocence.  Browning's  method  was  very  dif- 
ferent from  this.  His  story,  it  may  be  said,  is  told 
with  leaps  and  jerks,  one  personage  after  another 
telling  it  over  and  over,  the  most  cumbrous,  if  often 
the  most  impressive  way.  In  point  of  fact  we  have  not 
the  mere  story,  but  each  soul's  statement  of  its  case, 
and  of  the  private  world  of  motive  and  meaning,  in 


"The   Ring 
and  the 
Book." 


Analysis    of 
the  poem. 


224 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Powerful  in 
treatment  as 
it  is  novel  in 
form. 


Stands  on  an 
eminence  of 
its  own. 


which  it  lives  and  forms  its  purposes,  and  from 
which  its  actions  come  forth  like  the  ear  of  corn  from 
the  teeming  soil.  The  reader  is  placed  upon  the 
judgment  seat  which  each  pleads  before  him  for  life 
or  death,  the  black  soul  of  Guido  revealing  all  its 
convolutions  to  the  light  of  day,  the  noble  Capon- 
sacchi,  indignant,  in  white  light  of  manhood  and 
knighthood  and  generous  succour,  the  timid  yet 
heroic  woman  in  extreme  youth,  subjection  and 
humility,  yet  high  revolt  when  the  point  is  touched 
beyond  which  submission  becomes  a  treachery  and 
cowardice.  The  work  is  unique  in  poetry.  It  is  as 
powerful  in  treatment  as  it  is  novel  in  form.  The 
secondary  figures  in  the  long  plea  of  accusation  and 
defence,  the  hum  of  life  around  them  in  all  its 
inquiries  and  partisanships,  the  tribunal  itself,  the 
aged  Pope  who  holds  the  scales  of  justice,  are  all 
placed  before  us  in  full  potency  of  life  and  thought. 
No  man  in  English  or  any  other  speech  has  mounted 
to  the  heights  of  Shakespeare  ;  but  in  its  wonderful 
way  "The  Ring  and  the  Book"  stands  on  an  emi- 
nence of  its  own,  almost  equally  unapproachable. 
The  fault — a  fault  of  its  conception  and  very  essence,  a 
necessity  of  being — is  its  extreme  length,  and  the  great 
strain  which,  notwithstanding  that  length,  its  great 
concentration  and  intensity  demand  ;  but  it  is  a  poor 
criticism  which  thinks  of  faults  in  presence  of  such 
a  creation,  the  addition  as  of  a  new  planet  flaming 
in  life  and  truth  among  the  stars  that  already  shed 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


225 


over  us  those  rays  that  rule  the  night,  attending-  the 
dawn  and  revelation  of  a  brighter  day. 

When  all  is  said  that  can  be  said  about  the  greater 
works  of  a  poet's  life,  it  remains  the  fact  that  by  far 
the  greater  majority  of  readers  prefer  him  in  his 
shorter  poems,  and  that  the  widest  circle  of  fame  is 
that  which  rests  upon  the  lyrics,  the  briefer  breathings 
of  poetry,  the  swallow-flights,  as  Lord  Tennyson  calls 
them.  "  In  Memoriam  "  as  we  have  noted,  is  but  a 
collection  of  these,  though  so  wonderfully  threaded 
together,  and  instinct  with  an  inspiration  which  the 
careless  reader  may  miss  or  overlook,  yet  still  receive 
into  his  heart  of  hearts  a  bit  of  melody,  a  fragment 
of  verse  which  will  last  him  all  his  life.  If  it  were 
not  for  the  innumerable  dew-droppings  of  such  verses 
the  number  would  be  few  who  would  pursue  Shelley 
through  the  long  drawn  sentences  and  fantastic 
meaning  of  "Alastor"  or  the  "Revolt  of  Islam";  and 
even  Wordsworth,  the  grave  and  great,  would  be  apt  to 
lose  a  great  many  of  his  worshippers  if  he  met  us 
only  on  the  vast  mountain-sides  and  valleys  of  the 
"Excursion,"  and  "Prelude."  Lord  Tennyson  and 
Mr.  Browning  have  happily  both  given  us  enough  of 
the  shorter  strains  to  satisfy  the  multitude.  For  three 
readers  of  "The  Ring  and  the  Book"  there  are  per- 
haps a  thousand  who  have  galloped  to  Ghent  upon 
that  most  impossible  and  unnecessary  journey,  and 
felt  a  lump  rise  in  their  throats  when  the  good  steed 
Roland  fell  in  the  market-place  :  or  attended  the  Pied 


A  poet's 
widest  circle 
of  fame. 


Shelley. 


"Alastor." 
"  Revolt    of 
Islam." 
Wordsworth 
"  Excur- 
sion "  and 
••Prelude." 


226 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  later 
works. 


His  last 
work,  "  Aso- 
lando." 


Piper  and  his  train  in  their  disastrous  pilgrimage  into 
the  unknown. 

Of  Mr.  Browning's  publications  after  his  great 
work  there  is  comparatively  little  to  say,  though  they 
are  many  in  number.  ' '  Balaustion's  Adventure, "  with 
its  wonderful  translation — with  a  modern  light — into 
English,  and  all  the  nineteenth  century  thought  sug- 
gested over  the  shoulder  as  it  were  of  the  Greek  wife 
and  martyr,  was  published  in  1871,  and  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  "  Prince  HohenstielSchwangau,"  "Fifine  at 
the  Fair,  "1872;  "  Red  Cotton  Nightcap  Country,  "1873  '•> 
"Aristophanes' Apology,"  "The  Agamemnon,"  the 
"Inn Album,"  " La Saisiaz, "  " Pacchiarotto, "  "Joco- 
seria, "  "Ferishtah's  Fancies,"  and  "  Parleyings  with 
Certain  Persons  of  Importance,"  at  intervals  during  the 
next  dozen  years.  The  ' '  Dramatic  Idyls  "  came  in 
the  middle  of  this  long  series  in  1879  and  1880,  the  only 
volumes  among  them  fully  worthy  of  the  poet's  name. 
In  these  later  poems  he  returned  in  a  considerable 
degree  to  the  more  involved  expression  and  obscure 
significance  of  his  earliest  works.  Obscure  signifi- 
cance we  say,  because  much  meaning  was  there, 
though  often  hard  to  follow  out.  His  last  work  of 
all,  a  collection  of  poems  unequal  yet  full  of  many 
fine  things,  to  which  he  had  given  the  fond  title 
"  Asolando"  (as  if  Asolo,  his  favourite  little  Venetian 
city,  had  been  a  verb  of  poetic  meaning,  and  he  the 
actor  of  all  that  mingled  thought  and  story  in  an  ever 
present  tense),  was  published  on  the  very  eve  of  his 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


227 


death — the  news  that  his  own  country  had  eagerly 
received  that  last  offering  of  his  genius,  being  almost 
the  last  which  his  dying  ears  received.  Thus  poetry, 
so  early  taken  up,  so  continuously  served,  was  with 
him  till  the  last  moment  of  his  life.  He  died  on  the 
1 2th  December,  1889,  in  the  Palazzo  Rezzonico,  in 
Venice,  the  home  of  his  only  son,  with  all  who  were 
most  dear  to  him  around  his  bed. 

It  might  have  been  a  question  in  chronology 
whether  the  other  poet  whose  name  is  for  ever 
linked  with  that  of  Robert  Browning,  the  first  of 
women-poets  in  her  own  race,  perhaps  in  the  world, 
should  not  have  come  before  his  in  the  record,  the 
beginning  of  her  work,  preceding  his  by  a  few  years, 
and  the  end  of  it  by  many.  But  it  seemed  undesir- 
able to  separate  the  great  Twin  Brethren  of  our 
generation  from  each  other.  Why  it  is  that  no  wo- 
man (except  in  fiction)  ever  attains  the  highest  rank 
in  poetical  literature,  it  is  probably  quite  impossible 
ever  to  determine.  There  are  many  lines  of  limita- 
tion which  the  higher  sense  of  the  world  as  well  as 
its  prejudices  prefers  that  a  woman  should  not  over- 
step— questions  which  it  is  best  for  all  the  interests 
of  the  race  that  she  should  not  handle — which  may- 
have  something  to  do  with  this  inferiority  ;  but  great 
genius  breaks  all  bonds,  and  these  limitations  are 
less  and  less  respected  as  the  world  goes  on.  No 
such  superlative  genius  has  ever  yet,  so  far  as  we 
know,  been  put  into  a  woman's  frame.  And  it  is  in 


Died  at 
Venice,  1889 


Elizabeth 
Barrett 
Browning, 
1809-1861. 


Women   not 
yet   attained 
the     highest 
rank  in 
poetry. 


228 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Mrs.  Brown- 
ing   more    a 
poet  than 
her  husband. 


Essay  on 
"Mind." 


Her  early 
illness. 


"  Pan  is 
Dead." 


"  The  Cry  of 
the  Child- 


itself  a  confession  of  a  lower  level  when  we  say  that 
Mrs.  Browning  is  the  first  of  women-poets.  In  her- 
self she  is  a  person  full  of  interest,  with  a  story  of 
subdued  romance,  and  a  nature  full  of  poetical  qual- 
ities, much  more  poet  than  her  husband,  though 
her  poems  are  much  less  poetry,  which  is  a  paradox 
of  which  no  explanation  can  be  afforded.  A  wonder- 
ful girl,  educated  as  few  girls  are,  with  all  the  classic 
inspirations  that  come  from  the  poetry  of  the  Greeks, 
she  began  to  write  at  an  extraordinarily  early  age, 
translating  the  Prometheus  of  Eschylus  and  even  ven- 
turing into  philosophy  with  a  youthful  essay  on 
Mind,  while  still  so  young  that  Miss  Mitford  had 
"some  difficulty  in  persuading  a  friend,"  that  the 
young  author  "was  old  enough  to  be  introduced 
into  company,  in  technical  language  was  out" — 
Elizabeth  Barrett,  this  miraculous  child,  was  early 
stricken  down  by  illness  and  sorrow,  and  for  many 
years  had  all  the  appearance  of  a  confirmed  invalid 
shut  up  in  her  room  for  life.  It  was  from  her  sick- 
room that  her  first  collection  of  poems,  including 
many  of  her  finest  productions,  came  forth  in  1844. 
In  these,  among  many  reminiscences  and  inspira- 
tions of  her  then  singular  education — poems  of  which 
Pan  is  Dead  "  is  much  the  most  remarkable — there 
burst  forth  also  the  voice  of  her  time,  the  voice  of 
the  enthusiast  and  philanthropist,  which  scarcely 
had  become  before  one  of  the  highest  voices  of 
poetry.  "  The  Cry  of  the  Children,"  which  was  in- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


229 


eluded  in  these  first  volumes,  has  a  passion  and  pathos 
with  which  the  soul  of  England  was  wrung-,  and 
formed  at  once  the  highest  expression  and  stimulus  of 
a  great  wave  of  popular  feeling,  very  curious  to  find 
side  by  side  with  the  half-triumphant,  half-regretful 
proclamation  of  the  Gods  of  Hellas,  whose  doom 
had  gone  forth  from  among  the  spheres. 

One  of  the  longest  of  Miss  Barrett's  poems,  a 
poetical  narrative  hurriedly  written,  but  full  of  pic- 
turesque life  and  power,  has  a  curious  and  interest- 
ing reference  to  the  other  poet,  unknown  to  her  as 
yet,  in  whose  name  her  own  was  to  be  merged,  the 
future  companion  of  her  life.  Browning's  "Bell  and 
Pomegranates,"  were  in  course  of  publication  when 
this  young  lady  rushed  with  flying  pen  through  the 
tale  of  "Lady  Geraldine's  Courtship,"  describing  her, 
the  highborn  lady  in  her  old  hereditary  home,  sur- 
rounded by  everything  that  was  best  and  most 
beautiful,  enjoying  all  the  highest  luxuries  of  life, 
sometimes  ancient,  sometimes  modern,  the  old  poets 
and  the  new — among  which  latter  class  there  might 
be  for  her  refreshment, 

Of  Browning  one  pomegranate  which,  when  cut  down  through 

the  middle, 
Showed  a  heart  within  blood-tinctured  with  a  veined  humanity." 

Not  so  much  this  touch  of  anticipated  acquaint- 
ance, but  the  possession  of  a  mutual  friend  anxious 
to  secure  a  moment's  pleasure  for  the  invalid, 


"  Lady 

Geraldine's 

Courtship." 


230 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Introduction 
of  Browning 
to  Miss  Bar- 
rett. 


Their  mar- 
riage. 


The    "Gods 
of  Hellas  " 
superseded 
by  a  more 
potent  in- 
fluence. 


brought  these  two  together.  She  was  on  the  sofa 
from  which  she  could  scarcely  rise,  from  whence 
she  apostrophises  so  prettily  and  touchingly  the 
spaniel  Flush,  who  was  her  devoted  attendant,  and 
herself  not  unlike  that  wistful,  affectionate  creature, 
with  long  curls  half  veiling  her  face,  after  the 
romantic  fashion  of  the  time — when  the  robust 
young  poet,  in  the  full  flush  of  his  manhood  and 
strength,  was  introduced  into  her  darkened  room. 
He  brought  romance  and  all  the  glories  of  awaken- 
ing life  with  him  into  that  retirement,  from  whence 
a  little  while  after  he  stole  his  wife,  restoring  her 
almost  by  a  miracle  to  comparative  health,  and  the 
open-air  world,  and  a  young  woman's  natural  capa- 
city for  enjoyment.  The  marriage  was  not  only 
opposed  but  forbidden  by  her  family,  notwithstand- 
ing that  residence  abroad  had  been  announced  to  be 
her  only  chance  of  life  and  restoration.  Love,  which 
thus  came  unexpected,  a  little  tardy,  but  all  the  more 
wonderful  and  sweet,  into  her  seclusion,  awakened 
in  her  a  fountain  of  poetry  more  personal  than  any- 
thing that  had  gone  before.  The  Gods  of  Hellas 
gave  place  to  a  more  potent  influence,  and  the 
course  of  her  own  singular  courtship  pushed  aside 
all  the  Lady  Geraldines  of  so  much  more  common- 
place an  inspiration.  Nothing  prettier  can  be  than 
the  little  glimpse  into  the  tremulous  newly-awakened 
hopes  of  the  invalid  which  is  afforded  to  us,  when  she 
describes  herself  as  stepping  breathlessly  and  furtively 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


231 


out  of  the  carriage  in  which  she  is  taking  the  daily 
drive  of  routine,  to  stand  for  a  moment  on  the  grass, 
and  feel  herself  upon  her  feet,  in  a  tremulous  ecstasy 
of  new  being.  In  a  higher  sense  we  have  the  same 
sensation  in  those  "Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese," 
tenderly  veiled  in  the  transparent  mist  of  supposed 
translation  where  this  awakening  to  life  and  love  is 
shadowed  forth.  These  Sonnets  reach  the  highest 
poetic  tide  of  her  genius — the  modest  abandon  of  a 
heart  overflowing  with  tenderness,  and  that  surprise 
of  delight  as  of  the  primal  creation,  which  the  true 
poet  finds  in  each  new  thing  that  meets  his  sight  and 
experience,  but  still  more  strongly  in  what  was  al- 
most, in  this  particular  case,  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead. 

Mrs.  Browning's  poems  after  her  marriage  were 
longer  and  of  more  importance  so  far  as  purpose  and 
intention  went.  ' '  Casa  Guidi  Windows  "  is  an  expres- 
sion of  her  interest  in  the  advancing  course  of  Italian 
independence,  for  which  she  had  the  most  passionate 
sympathy.  The  force  of  contemporary  feeling  which 
is  poured  forth  in  this  poem,  and  also  in  the  "Poems 
before  Congress,"  which  made  them  especially  strik- 
ing at  the  moment,  is  naturally  rather  to  their  dis- 
advantage now,  when  all  those  agitations  are  happily 
overpast,  and  the  inexperienced  observer  begins  to 
wonder  whether  it  can  be  possible  that  Italian  Unity 
is  so  new  as  to  have  been  the  object  of  such  warm, 
impassioned,  almost  unhoping  desires,  so  short  a 


"  Sonnets 
from  the 
Portuguese." 


The  highest 
poetic  tide  of 
her  genius. 


"  Casa  Guidi 
Windows." 


"  Poems 
before    Con- 
gress." 


232 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Aurora 

Leigh," 

1856. 


time  ago.  That  it  should  have  been  only  the  Aus- 
trian uniform  which  was  visible  from  Casa  Guidi 
windows  where  now  the  lively  Bersaglieri  pass  daily 
at  their  running  trot,  so  familiar,  so  completely  a 
part  of  the  scene,  is  all  but  incredible ;  or  that  the 
heart  of  an  English  lady  there  should  have  swelled 
so  full  of  alarm  and  indignation  and  fear  lest  some 
disastrous  compromise  should  cut  the  wings  of  her 
beloved  adopted  country.  These  poems  must  ever 
have  an  interest  for  the  historical  student,  as  show- 
ing what  that  period  of  agitation,  fear,  and  hope, 
really  was. 

The  last  great  work  of  Mrs.  Browning's  life  was 
the  poem  of  "Aurora  Leigh,"  published  in  1856,  the 
most  complete  monument  perhaps  of  her  genius. 
The  remarkable  thing  in  this  work  is  its  energy  and 
strong  poetical  vitality,  the  rush  and  spring  of  life 
which  is  in  a  narrative,  often  lengthy,  and  of  which 
the  subject  and  story  are  not  sufficient  for  the  fer- 
vour and  power  of  utterance.  The  development  of 
the  woman-poet,  brought  from  a  wild  no-training 
among  the  Italian  hills  into  a  prim  English  feminine 
household,  and  inevitably  assuming  there  that  at- 
titude of  superiority  to  every  thing  about  her  which  is 
so  contrary  to  that  of  true  genius,  and  so  melancholy 
a  mistake  in  art — gives  the  reader  at  first  a  strong 
prepossession  against,  instead  of  in  favour  of,  the 
young  Aurora,  so  conscious  as  she  is  of  her  qualities 
among  the  limited  persons  and  things  about  her. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


233 


The  story,  however,  soon  plunges,  in  the  person  of 
its  hero,  into  those  wild  depths  of  philanthropy  and 
sublime  intention  towards  the  poor  and  miserable, 
which  to  all  sober  eyes  turn  the  way  of  madness. 
Romney's  conclusion  that  it  is  his  duty  to  marry  the 
unfortunate  Marian  Erie,  who  has  been  the  victim  of 
brutal  passion,  thus  showing  how  divine  pity  tran- 
scends all  other  forces,  and  that  the  innocent  in  will 
and  intention  can  never  be  sullied — notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  he  does  not  love  her,  that  indeed  he 
loves  another  woman,  conventionally  suitable  to  him 
in  every  respect — is  the  climax  of  the  tale  ; — in  which 
something  of  that  perverse  sense  of  duty  in  plunging 
into  the  most  horrible  depths,  which  is  the  natural 
balance  of  those  limitations  which  the  world  imposes 
or  endeavours  to  impose  on  women,  is  apparent 
through  the  indignant  denunciations  of  too  prevalent 
evil,  and  recognition  of  much  belied  and  unacknow- 
ledged good.  There  are  really  admirable  pieces  of 
description  and  bursts  of  feeling  in  this  poem,  but 
it  is  throughout  a  little  rhetorical,  and  its  great 
quality,  is  as  we  have  said,  the  remarkable  sustained 
energy  and  vitality  of  the  long  volume  of  verse. 

This  "moon  of  poets,"  as  she  is  beautifully  called 
in  the  exquisite  dedication  to  her  of  Browning's 
"Men  and  Women,"  lived  for  fifteen  years  after  her 
marriage  in  tolerable  enjoyment  of  life,  under  the 
united  influences  of  her  husband's  tender  and  unceas- 
ing care,  and  the  genial  climate  of  Italy,  the  country 


Its  story. 


The  "Moon 
of  Poets." 


234 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Died  at 
Florence    in 
1861. 


The  plays  of 
Lord  Tenny- 
son and  Mr. 
Browning. 


"Stratford.' 


"  The  Blot 
on  the  Scut- 
cheon." 

"  Colombe's 
Birthday." 


"The 

Falcon." 
Mr.  and 
Mrs  Kendal. 


with  which  she  so  much  identified  herself  that  the 
great  calamity  suffered  by  that  nation  in  the  death 
of  Count  Cavour  is  said  to  have  hastened  her  death, 
which  took  place  in  Florence  in  1861. 

Nothing  has  been  said  about  what  is  no  unimpor- 
tant part  of  the  work  both  of  Lord  Tennyson  and  Mr. 
Browning, — their  plays.  These,  there  is  no  doubt  in 
both  cases,  it  will  be  attempted  to  play  spasmodically, 
or  when  their  special  enthusiasts  find  a  chance,  from 
time  to  time  ;  but  they  will  not,  we  think,  ever  find 
any  general  acceptance  on  the  stage,  where,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  case  in  older  days,  it  is  not 
poetry  that  is  wanted,  but  nimble  action,  and  a 
system  of  events  skilfully  and  closely  constructed  to 
suit  certain  practical  needs.  ' '  Strafford, "  Mr.  Brown- 
ing's earliest  drama,  was  indeed  produced  by  Mac- 
ready,  and  secured  a  limited  and  moderate  success, 
but  was  not  brought  forward  again.  ' '  The  Blot  on 
the  Scutcheon"  was  promised,  but  never  got  to  the 
stage  at  all.  ' '  Colombo's  Birthday, "  a  beautiful  little 
dramatic  sketch,  has  been  played  we  believe  by  am- 
ateurs, and  for  those  who  love  both  the  drama  and 
the  poet  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more 
worthy  exercise  ;  but  that  also  is  too  delicate  for  the 
bustling  stage.  Lord  Tennyson's  smaller  plays  have 
been  produced  with  more  decided,  yet  never  with 
lasting  success.  "The  Falcon,"  as  performed  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  was  one  of  the  most  poetical 
and  delightful  performances  ever  seen  in  a  theatre, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


235 


but  it  was  caviare  to  the  general  ;  and  "The  Cup," 
though  gorgeously  produced  by  Mr.  Irving,  the 
actor  most  used  to  have  his  own  way  with  the  public, 
was  also  a  short-lived  play.  It  is  enough,  perhaps 
— might  not  one  believe  almost  the  best  ? — to  be  con- 
tent with  the  great  world  of  readers,  who  require  no 
footlights,  no  artificial  excitement  of  representation 
to  hold  them  spell-bound  to  every  utterance  of  the 
poet's  own  unaided  tongue. 

No  one  will  object  to  the  chronological  rule  which 
places  the  kindly  and  beloved  name  of  Thomas  Hood 
next  to  these  masters  of  song  :  not  indeed  that  he 
was  a  master  of  song  in  the  full  sense  of  the  words, 
but  because  "  the  heart  within  blood-tinctured  with  a 
veined  humanity "  was  never  shown  with  less 
ostentation  and  more  effect  than  in  the  two  remark- 
able poems  which,  early  in  the  age  of  Victoria, 
suddenly  penetrated,  as  with  the  swift  arrow  of  its 
ancient  national  warfare,  the  mind  of  the  nation. 
Philanthropy  has  done  and  said  much  in  our  day. 
A  hundred  professions  of  the  desire  to  set  all  right, 
and  conviction  that  this  or  that  was  the  way  to  do  it, 
have  been  published  among  us,  and  several  notable 
writers  have  found  in  the  attempt  to  call  attention  to 
a  great  abuse,  or  advocate  a  scheme  of  relief,  the 
materials  for  their  best  work,  and  unlimited  praise 
and  reward  therewith.  But  no  such  motive  or  object 
could  ever  be  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  mind 
of  Tom  Hood  when  he  darted  forth,  out  of  the  over- 


"  The  Cup.' 
Mr.  Irving. 


Thomas 
Hood,  1799* 
1845. 


236 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  The  Song 
of  the  Shirt." 
"The  Bridge 
of  Sighs." 


He    fulfilled 
the  true  office 
of  poetry  in 
expressing 
his  bound- 
less   sym- 
pathy with 
suffering. 


whelming  pity  of  his  heart,  without  logic  or  prac- 
tical aim,  the  two  poems  without  which  now  any 
collection  of  English  poetry  would  be  incomplete, 
The  "  Song  of  the  Shirt  "  and  the  "  Bridge  of  Sighs  " 
— in  which  the  poor  seamstress  and  the  poorer  miser- 
able creature  from  the  streets,  the  shame  of  society 
and  of  humanity,  had  such  an  elegy  of  heart-rending 
pity  and  tenderness  poured  over  them  as  rilled  the 
world  with  compunction  and  with  tears.  There  was 
little  that  was  didactic  or  practical  in  these  famous 
songs  of  sorrow.  Not  his  was  the  mission  of  teach- 
ing or  the  hand  to  build  up  reformatory  institutions. 
He  fulfilled  the  true  office  of  poetry  in  giving  vent 
to  that  boundless  sympathy  with  suffering  and 
remorseful  horror  of  having  any  share  in  the  system 
which  makes  it  possible — which  has  become  in  our 
days  the  warmest  sentiment  of  the  common  mind, 
little  as  even  that  has  been  able  to  do  for  the  long 
established  evils  which  mock  reformation,  or  for 
those  human  incapacities  and  weaknesses  which 
force  so  many  struggling  creatures  downward  to  the 
lowest  hopeless  depths  of  worthless  labour  and 
starvation.  Hood's  poems  did  more  perhaps  to 
awaken  the  national  heart  than  the  most  appalling 
statistics  could  have  done,  more  a  hundred  times 
than  recent  attempts  to  make  capital  of  vice  and 
feed  the  impure  imagination  and  gather  profit  from 
a  vile  curiosity,  ever  could  accomplish.  That 
dreadful  image  of  the  drowned  creature  ''fashioned 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


237 


so  slenderly  "  taken  out  of  the  tragic  river  with  who 
could  tell  what  piteous  past  behind  her,  and  no  refuge 
but  the  dark  and  awful  tides  surging  between  its 
black  banks — has  been  impressed  for  ever  on  the 
imagination,  intolerable  yet  perfect  in  the  tragedy 
of  its  voiceless  despair. 

Hood  had  the  most  curiously  different  reputation 
behind  him  when  he  wrote  these  two  wonderful 
ballads — if  we  can  call  them  by  so  innocent  and 
pleasant  a  name.  He  was  the  jester  of  his  genera- 
tion, the  punster,  the  maker  up  of  comic  verses,  so 
comical  in  their  showers  of  fun  and  easy  wit  that  the 
most  serious  of  critics  could  not  refuse  to  be  amused, 
and  had  not  the  heart  to  find  fault.  The  laugh,  as 
so  often,  came  out  of  a  sad  life,  overwhelmed  with 
sickness  and  care,  and  an  unending  struggle  ;  but  it 
was  too  genuine  to  be  assumed,  and  still  rings  true 
with  all  its  twinkling  fun  and  irrestrainable  easy 
delight  in  the  ridicule  of  circumstance.  It  was  he 
who  sung  of  the  wet  day  through  which. 

"  One  small  parasol  goes  weeping  home  from  school. 
In  company  with  six  small  scholars." 

and  yet  again  in  how  different  a  tone  of  the  vigil  by 
a  deathbed  : 

"  We  thought  her  dying  when  she  slept. 
And  sleeping  when  she  died." 

Thus  he  touched  the  key  of  the  easiest  tender 
humour  and  ot  a  sorrow  beyond  tears — of  tragic  and 


The 

hisg 

tion. 


jester  ci 
enera- 


238 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Died  in  1845, 
in  poverty 
and  trouble. 


Winthorpe 
Mackworth 
Praed,  1802- 
39- 


heart-rending  pain,  and  of  laughing  ridicule  and 
trivial  wit,  like  a  merry-andrew  one  moment  and  in 
another  almost  a  prophet.  In  addition  to  these  ex- 
traordinary varieties  of  production,  he  had  the  gentle 
heart  which  is  not  always  given  along  with  the  great- 
est genius,  and  has  left  a  trace  of  love  behind  him,  so 
that  even  the  severest  historian  could  scarcely  men- 
tion Tom  Hood  without  a  softening  in  his  tones. 
He  was  born  in  1789,  and  died  in  1845  in  poverty 
and  trouble — which  indeed  had  been  much  the  com- 
plexion of  his  life  of  wit  and  laughter  all  through. 

Winthorpe  Mackworth  Praed,  though  a  very  dif- 
ferent man,  and  of  antecedents  so  strongly  con- 
trasted that  we  might  almost  say  they  represented 
the  antipodes  of  social  life,  had  so  much  affinity  to 
one  side  of  Hood's  poetry  that  his  own  was  entirely 
humorous,  bright  with  the  sparkle  of  wit,  and  a 
perception  of  the  comic  side  of  society  and  nature. 
He  died  a  young  man  in  1839,  in  the  midst  of  every- 
thing that  was  most  prosperous  and  successful. 
His  poems  were  collected  and  republished  out  of  the 
various  periodicals  to  which  they  had  been  con- 
tributed only  in  1864.  He  is  chiefly  remembered,  we 
fear,  as  the  author  of  several  very  clever  charades  in 
graceful  verse  which  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  his 
contemporaries,  and  are,  it  is  needless  to  say,  very 
superior  to  the  natural  level  of  such  productions. 

It  would  seem  scarcely  necessary  to  do  more  than 
give  the  names  of  such  graceful  and  delightful  minor 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


239 


poets  as  Bryan  Procter  (Barry  Cornwall)  and  his 
daughter  Adelaide  Procter  ;  R.  H.  Home,  the  author 
of  "Orion,"  a  friend  and  esteemed  correspondent 
of  Mrs.  Browning ;  Alaric  Attila  Watts,  despite  his 
terrible  baptismal  names,  a  gentle  and  genial  singer  ; 
Charles  Swain  and  Charles  Mackay,  the  authors  of 
many  popular  lyrics  ;  the  Rev.  John  Moultrie,  who 
was  Rector  of  Rugby  during  Dr.  Arnold's  reign,  and 
his  faithful  friend  and  supporter,  chiefly  known  by 
a  touching  poem  of  the  elegiac  order,  "  My  Brother's 
Grave;"  and  D.  M.  Moir,  the  "Delta"  of  Black- 
wood,  whose  most  memorable  verses  were  of  the  same 
order,  domestic  elegies  on  the  death  of  his  children. 
Lord  Houghton  (Richard  Monckton  Milnes)  perhaps 
demands  a  longer  notice,  if  not  for  the  value  of  his 
poetry,  which  includes  many  popular  verses,  at 
least  for  his  loving-kindness  to  many  of  the  less 
prosperous  of  his  brother  poets,  and  the  considerable 
place  he  took  in  society  as  a  sort  of  representative 
of  the  literary  world.  He  was  the  friend  of  Carlyle, 
of  Lord  Tennyson,  of  every  one  known  in  literature, 
exerting  himself  as  much  as  was  possible  for  the 
soothing  of  Hood's  latter  days  and  well  known  for  his 
extreme  kindness  to  the  impracticable  young  Scot, 
David  Gray,  who  offered  much  promise  of  poetry, 
but  died  before  that  promise  was  accomplished. 
These  are  perhaps  his  chief  claims  to  the  attention 
of  the  later  reader  ;  but  many  of  his  lyrics  linger  in 
the  hearts  of  his  contemporaries,  and  give  expression 


Bryan    Wal- 
ler    Procter 
(Barry  Corn- 
wall),   1787- 
1874. 
Adelaide 
Anne    Proc- 
ter, 1824-64. 
R.  H. 

Home  1807- 
1884. 

Alaric  Attila 
Watts. 

Charles 

Swain,  1803- 

1874. 

Charles 

Mackay, 

1814. 

Rev.  John 

Moultrie, 

1799-1874. 

D.  M.  Moir. 


Lord 

Houghton, 

1809-85. 


David  Gray. 


240 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Ebenezer 
Elliott,  the 
"  Corn  Law 
Rhymer," 
1779-1849. 


Thomas 
Cooper, 
1805. 


"The  Pur- 
gatory of 
Suicides. 
1845." 


to  much  gentle  reflection  and  feeling,  which  would 
scarcely  fit  into  the  larger  words  of  poetry  more 
exalted  in  tone. 

Two  or  three  poets  of  a  different  kind,  to  whom 
the  gift  of  song  was  full  of  deadly  seriousness,  and 
sometimes  of  passion,  may  be  also  mentioned  here. 
Ebenezer  Elliott,  called  the  Corn  Law  Rhymer,  poured 
forth  many  animated  verses  on  the  subject  of  the 
not  very  heroic  struggle  which  led  to  the  Repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws  in  1843,  astruggle,  however,  which  moved 
almost  to  passion  the  northern  and  manufacturing 
districts  of  the  country — which  have  died  a  natural 
death  with  the  occasion  that  brought  them  forth. 
He  was,  however,  a  very  good  specimen  of  the 
manly  natural  representative  of  the  common  people, 
the  backbone  of  the  nation — whose  local  fame  is  an 
advantage  to  his  country,  and  who  if  he  does  not 
escape  some  of  the  mistakes  natural  to  limited  edu- 
cation and  horizon,  is  far  above  the  tragic  folly  of 
those  who  believe  that  everything  that  is  wrong  can 
be  set  right,  and  prosperity  and  universal  good 
secured  by  act  of  Parliament.  He  died  in  1849  an<i 
produced  little  except  the  aforesaid  rhymes  in  her 
Majesty's  reign.  Thomas  Cooper  (born  1805),  of  a 
more  intense  and  impassioned  school,  published  in 
1845  a  work  of  some  note  called  the  "  Purgatory  of 
Suicides,"  and  still  lives,  having  just  received  a 
tardy  acknowledgment  of  his  gifts,  in  the  only  way 
which  is  possible  to  the  British  Government,  by  a 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE> 


241 


small  grant  of  money.  To  the  same  class  belongs 
James  Thomson,  of  a  younger  generation,  born  in 
1834,  who  began  life  as  a  soldier  schoolmaster,  and 
during  his  service  in  the  army  became  the  friend  of 
Mr.  Charles  Bradlaugh,  afterwards  so  well  known, 
whose  influence  had  much  effect  upon  his  life.  The 
"City  of  Dreadful  Night"  published  in  1874,  procured 
him  for  a  time  considerable  reputation.  Those 
untrained  but  not  impotent  imaginations  which, 
like  the  temper  of  Cassius  "  much  enforced  yieldeth 
a  single  spark, "  are  remarkable  illustrations  of  the 
power  of  that  gift  amid  the  humblest  surroundings 
to  strike  forth  tragic  though  broken  notes  into  the 
poetry  of  the  wealthiest  age. 

It  is  difficult  to  know  how  to  characterise  Martin 
Farquhar  Tupper,  whose  strange  productions  have 
perhaps  called  forth  more  ridicule  and  sold  more 
copies  than  those  of  all  the  rest  of  our  poets  put 
together.  His  "  Proverbial  Philosophy  "  was  the  most 
remarkable  instance  we  know  of  a  large  assumption, 
which  so  imposed  for  a  time  upon  the  rank  and  file 
of  readers  that  he  was  taken  on  his  own  estimate 
as  a  poet.  The  tamest  and  most  commonplace 
sentiment  and  platitudes,  in  the  form  of  dull  aphor- 
isms, filling  a  succession  of  large  and  dreary 
volumes,  are  the  last  things  we  should  think  of  as 
likely  to  attract  the  enthusiasm  of  the  crowd — yet 
they  did  so  in  the  most  astonishing  way ;  and  it 
was  only  the  storms  of  laughter  and  ridicule  which 
16 


James 

Thomson, 

1834-82. 


"  The  City 
of  Dreadful 
Night," 
1874. 


Martin 
Farquhar 
Tupper, 
1810. 


"  Proverbial 
Philoso- 
phy." 


242 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Thomas 
Noon 
Talfourd. 
1795-1854. 


Sir  Henry 

Taylor, 

iSoo-86. 


"  Philip  Vrfn 
Arteveldef" 


swept  over  him,  from  all  whose  opinion  was  worth 
having,  that  detached  from  him,  with  some  resist- 
ance and  great  unwillingness,  the  devotion  of  the 
multitude.  Of  the  countless  editions  which  were 
produced  of  his  works  during  the  short  period  of 
their  popularity,  scarcely  any  are  now  to  be  seen, 
and  it  would  be  curious  to  inquire  what  has  become 
of  the  volumes  which  lay  on  so  many  drawing-room 
tables,  which  were  presented  by  anxious  parents  to 
good  young  people,  and  were  held  by  gentle  dul- 
ness  as  a  sort  of  new  revelation,  in  1852  and  the 
succeeding  years.  They  have  disappeared  like 
les  neiges  d'antan,  or  rather  like  the  pins  which  we 
lose  in  cartloads,  and  which  most  surely  by  this 
time  have  formed  a  metallic  crust  somewhere  under 
the  vestments  of  the  earth. 

Several  dramatists  of  lofty  aim,  but  moderate  suc- 
cess, partly  no  doubt  because  of  that  loftiness  of 
poetic  intention,  distinguished  the  early  portion  of 
this  half-century.  Mr.  Serjeant  Talfourd's  ' '  Ion  "  had 
really  attained  the  honours  of  the  stage  just  before 
its  beginning,  but  his  later  work  was  less  successful. 
Sir  Henry  Taylor  did  not,  we  believe,  ever  attempt 
to  gain  these  honours.  His  chief  dramatic  poem, 
Philip  "V/)n  Artevelde,  has  had  the  good  fortune  to 
please  the  critics,  and  has  been  greatly  applauded 
and  admired  in  those  circles  where  applause  is  the 
most  sweet,  but  it  cannot  be  said  ever  to  have 
caught  the  general  ear.  It  has  not  sufficient  force 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


243 


either  of  life  or  of  poetry  to  secure  that  wider 
audience,  yet  the  place  of  the  author  among  con- 
temporary poets  has  always  been  high,  thougn 
without  this  essential  basis  of  fame.  His  other 
works — "Edwin  the  Fair,"  the  "Virgin  Widow,"  and 
"St.  Clement's  Eve" — have  not,  we  think,  gained 
even  this  succes  d'estime. 

James  Sheridan  Knowles,  though  very  much  less 
of  a  poet,  nay  scarcely  at  all  to  be  included  in  that 
list,  had  a  real  success  on  the  stage,  where  his  plays 
for  many  years  held  an  important  place.  ' '  Virginius, " 
the  "Hunchback,"  and  the  "Love  Chase"  were 
the  most  popular  of  these  works.  The  two  latter 
are  still  occasionally  represented,  and  though  they 
have  become  old-fashioned,  have  not  altogether  lost 
their  power,  notwithstanding  their  perfectly  artificial 
and  conventional  character  and  highflown  senti- 
ment. A  painful  but  powerful  tragedy,  in  which  the 
poet  endeavoured,  as  much  as  a  man  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  can,  to  throw  himself  into  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  pre-Shakespearian  tragedians,  entitled 
"Death's  Jest  Book,  or  the  Fool's  Tragedy,"  was 
written  some  time  before  by  Thomas  Lovell  Bed- 
does,  a  relation  of  the  Edgeworth  family.  It  was 
published  after  his  death  in  1850,  but  did  not  make 
any  impression  upon  the  public  mind. 

A  group  of  poets  may  here  come  in  who  naturally 
class  themselves  in  a  little  band,  though  perhaps  it 
was  the  voice  of  a  keen  and  triumphant  ridicule 


"  Edwin  the 
Fair." 

"  The  Virgin 
Widow." 
"  St.    Clem- 
ent's Eve." 


James  Sheri- 
dan Knowles 
1784-1862. 


"Virginius." 
"The 
Hunch- 
back." 

"The  Love 
Chase." 


Death's 
Jest  Book." 
Thomas 
Lovell  Bed- 
does, 
1803-49. 


244 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  Spas- 
modic 
School 


Philip  James 
Bailey. 
"  Festus." 


Sydney 
Dobell, 
1824-74. 


Rev.  George 
Gilfillan. 


which  tied  the  knot  most  closely,  marking  them 
with  the  title  of  the  Spasmodic  School,  a  title  neces- 
sarily in  some  respects  unjust,  yet  impossible  to 
shake  off  or  outlive.  The  first  of  these  was  Mr. 
Philip  James  Bailey,  the  author  of  "Festus,"  a  work 
which  gained  considerable  acceptance  among  the 
critics  who  at  that  period  still  looked  with  some 
respect  at  a  work  de  grande  haleine,  but  which  was 
too  lengthy,  too  philosophical  and  too  ornate  to  claim 
much  of  the  public  attention.  Sydney  Dobell,  whose 
first  publication  was  made  under  the  name  of  Sydney 
Yendys,  an  anagram  of  his  Christian  name,  writing  in 
a  very  similar  strain,  produced  in  1850  "The  Roman," 
also  a  work  in  which  there  were  many  fine  passages 
and  which  attracted  a  good  deal  of  notice.  In  both 
poets  the  intensity  of  sensation  aimed  at,  and  the 
exuberance  of  style,  awoke  a  counter-blast  of  amused 
criticism  which  it  was  possible  they  might  have  re- 
covered in  the  moderating  influence  of  experience 
and  years.  It  happened,  however,  that  a  somewhat 
ludicrous  preface  introduced  another  poet  of  very 
similar  inspirations  to  the  world  soon  after  the  ap- 
pearance of  these  writers.  A  popular  critic  in  Scot- 
land, the  Rev.  George  Gilfillan,  who  wrote  much  upon 
poetry  and  himself  produced  a  little,  of  no  great 
pretensions,  was  the  author  of  a  series  of  articles  in 
which  he  bewailed  the  absence  of  poetical  inspira- 
tion, and  called  upon  heaven  and  earth  to  yield  a  new 
poet  to  his  prayers.  These  prayers  were  answered  in 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 


245 


the  most  curiously  direct  manner  by  the  revelation,  in 
very  humble  circumstances,  of  Alexander  Smith,  1830- 
1867,  a  young-  Scotsman,  who  was  so  moved  by  Mr. 
Gilfillan's  adjurations  to  all  the  gods,  as  to  send  him 
a  manuscript,  afterwards  published  under  the  title  of 
"A  Life  Drama,"  and  describing  the  development  of 
a  young  poet  among  the  most  adverse  conditions  of 
life — a  poem  not  without  considerable  merit,  but 
steeped  in  the  purple  and  gold  of  poetical  metaphor 
and  simile.  The  critic's  cries  of  triumph  and  delight 
rang  through  his  own  country  and  penetrated  to 
other  skies.  He  had  demanded  a  New  Poet,  and  lo  ! 
here  he  was  revealed  in  full  garland  and  singing 
robes,  as  when  Minerva  came  equipped  and  armed 
from  her  sublime  parent's  head. 

The  din  and  clangour  of  the  proclamation  aroused 
attention  everywhere  and  prepared  as  much  good  as 
evil  fate  for  the  neophyte,  who  was  received  by  some 
with  ready  enthusiasm,  but  by  others  with  an  in- 
clination to  smile  not  less  pronounced  and  ready. 
For  a  little  while  indeed  the  tide  ran  full  in  his  fav- 
our, and  he  was  admitted  without  much  demur  into 
the  circle  of  contemporary  poets.  The  "  Life  Drama  " 
was  published  in  1853,  and  in  the  same  year  Mr. 
Dobell  produced  "  Balder,"  a  poem  in  which  the  over- 
decoration  of  his  style,  and  attempted  intensity  of 
effect,  were  not  chastened  but  rather  increased.  The 
combination  of  these  poems  and  of  the  ludicrous 
incidents  of  Mr.  Smith's  discovery,  so  to  speak,  by  the 


Alexander 

Smith, 

183067. 


"  Life 

Drama," 

1853. 

"  Balder,' 
1853- 


246 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


William 
Edmonstone 
Aytoun, 
1813-65. 


"Firmilian.' 


ager  critic — caught  the  fancy  of  a  wicked  wit,  him- 
self already  a  master  of  verse,  especially  in  its  more 
lumorous  expression,  William  Edmonstone  Aytoun 
(1813-1865),  a  member  of  the  band  of  Blackwood, 
always  noted  for  a  keen  enjoyment  in  the  exercise 
of  satirical  criticism.  Aytoun  had  all  the  traditions 
of  the  elder  race  of  poets  behind  him,  as  well  as  an 
unfeigned  delight  in  the  demolishment  of  pretence, 
and  the  cutting  down  of  intruders  into  the  sacred 
paths  of  literature.  He  did  not,  according  to  the 
time-honoured  fiction  which  describes  Keats  as  hav- 
ing been  killed,  and  Wordsworth  held  back,  by 
articles  in  the  reviews,  assail  these  new  poets  in  the 
ordinary  ways  of  criticism.  The  review  in  "  Black- 
wood's  Magazine,"  which  buried  them  in  a  humorous 
explosion,  was  not  directed  against  either  "Balder"  or 
the  "  Life  Drama,"  but  was  a  review  of  the  supposed 
dramatic  poem  of  "  Firmilian,"  which  professed  to 
be  also  an  embodiment  of  a  poet's  experiences.  The 
utter  extravagance  of  the  incidents  did  not,  as  the 
laughing  critic  expected,  immediately  betray  to  the 
puzzled  reader  its  satirical  intention,  and  the  supposed 
extracts  given  were  so  clever  that  Aytoun  was  in- 
duced to  extend  it  into  an  actual  poem,  and  to  publish 
it  as  "  Firmilian,  a  Spasmodic  Tragedy. "  The  verse  in 
many  ways  was  much  more  vigorous  than  the  serious 
models  which  it  turned  into  ridicule,  and  though  the 
simple-minded  public,  we  think,  never  fully  under- 
stood the  joke,  being  puzzled  to  understand  how  any- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


247 


thing  so  good  could  have  been  intended  as  a  mere 
pleasantry,  the  effect  upon  the  Spasmodic  School 
was  overwhelming  and  final.  Mr.  Smith,  the  young- 
est of  the  band,  indeed  attempted  another  work, 
"  Edwin  of  Deira,"  which  was  published  in  1861,  but 
had  no  particular  effect.  In  the  mean  time,  however, 
Mr.  Dobell  and  Mr.  Smith  had  united  in  a  volume  of 
sonnets  on  the  war  (1855)  which,  produced  by,  and 
chiming  in  with  the  strong  popular  and  national 
feeling  roused  by  the  war  in  the  Crimea,  found  much 
greater  access  to  the  public  approval. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

OF  CHARLES  DICKENS  AND  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY, 
AND  OF  THE  OLDER  NOVELISTS. 

THE  art  of  fiction  at  the  commencement  of  our 
period  must  be  regarded  as  in  a  state  of  transition. 
The  great  revolution  effected  by  the  Waverley 
Novels  was  already  an  accomplished  fact,  but  it  had 
not  yet  had  time  to  bear  its  full  fruit,  and  the  modern 
novel,  as  we  understand  it,  was  at  best  only  strug- 
gling into  existence.  A  new  influence  of  a  different 
kind  had  now  arisen,  the  effect  of  which  it  is  difficult 
to  over-estimate.  It  may,  indeed,  be  said  that  Dick- 
ens's  novels — at  least  the  earlier  and  more  powerful 
ones — are  hardly  novels  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 


"  Edwin 
of  Deira." 


The  art  of 
fiction  in  a 
state  of 
transition. 

Revolution 
effected  by 
the  Waver- 
ley  Novels. 


248 


7777f  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Effect  of 
Dickens's 

Novels. 


Charles 

Dickens, 

1812-70. 


His  early 
days. 


His  father, 
John  Dick- 
ens. 


Removal  of 
the  family  to 
London. 


Their  strait- 
ened circum- 
stances. 


term  ;  but  the  effect  that  they  have  produced  on  the 
fiction,  not  only  of  England  but  of  foreign  countries 
also,  is  singularly  widespread.  Greater  novelists 
have  produced  finer  works  of  art,  but  hardly  any 
have  succeeded  in  founding  so  varied  and  extensive 
a  school  of  fiction. 

Charles  Dickens  was  born  in  1812  at  Portsea,  where 
his  father,  who  was  a  clerk  in  the  Navy  Pay  Office, 
had  his  employment  in  the  Portsmouth  dockyard. 
His  early  days,  however,  were  spent  chiefly  at 
Chatham,  to  which  his  father  was  transferred  when 
little  Charles  was  only  four  years  of  age.  His  child- 
hood was  not  a  happy  one,  but  the  Chatham  period 
was  the  most  prosperous  part  of  it ;  he  had  some  ele- 
mentary education  at  a  small  school  kept  by  a  Baptist 
minister  named  Giles,  whom  he  always  regarded  with 
respect  and  affection,  and  the  atmosphere  of  his  home 
was  as  yet  little  clouded.  In  1821  his  father,  John 
Dickens,  whose  salary  had  been  lowered  in  conse- 
quence of  changes  in  the  official  system,  came  to 
London,  where  his  family  occupied  a  wretched  lodg- 
ing in  Camden  Town,  and  lived  in  straitened  circum- 
stances, oppressed  by  rapidly  increasing  debts,  which 
resulted,  in  another  year  or  so,  in  the  arrest  and  im- 
prisonment of  the  unhappy  head  of  the  household. 
From  this  time  commenced  that  miserable  existence 
of  struggle  and  hardship,  of  which  much  is  recorded 
in  "David  Copperfield."  The  circumstances,  of 
course,  were  not  actually  those  given  in  the  novel, 


EATGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


249 


and  a  great  deal  of  trouble  has  been  uselessly  ex- 
pended in  attempting  to  identify  facts  and  figures 
which  Dickens  had  purposely  altered ;  but  there  is  still 
much  stern  reality  underlying  the  fictitious  scenes  of 
the  story.  There  seems  no  reasonable  ground  for 
identifying  John  Dickens  with  Mr.  Micawber,  but  the 
strange  shifts  to  which  the  Micawber  family  were 
put,  the  visits  of  the  little  boy  with  his  precocious 
knowledge  to  the  pawnbroker's  shop,  and  the  scenes 
of  prison  life,  refer  to  actual  episodes  in  the  history 
of  the  Dickens  household. 

Charles  Dickens,  as  a  child,  was,  however,  in  reality 
put  to  as  wretched  work  as  David  Copperfield,  be- 
ing employed  in  a  blacking  warehouse,  in  which  a 
cousin  of  his  had  an  interest,  to  paste  labels  on  the 
blacking  bottles.  At  one  time  he  was  placed  in  the 
window  of  the  shop  to  do  his  work  there,  that  all  the 
world  might  see  what  a  business  the  firm  were  do- 
ing. After  some  years  of  this  drudgery  his  father, 
who  had  taken  the  benefit  of  the  Act  for  the  Relief 
of  Insolvent  Debtors,  came  out  of  prison,  and  being 
temporarily  free  of  his  difficulties,  was  able  to  give 
Charles  some  education,  but  the  two  years  which  the 
latter  spent  at  a  small  Hampstead  school  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  much  effect  upon  him.  Such 
learning  as  he  had,  apart  from  the  strange  odds  and 
ends  of  knowledge  picked  up  in  the  London  streets, 
was  chiefly  derived  from  the  study  of  an  old  collec- 
tion of  novels  and  tales,  in  which  Fielding  and 


His  first 
employment 


His  fleld  of 
early  read- 
ing. 


250 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  first 
story  in  the 
"  Monthly 
Magazine." 


Parliament- 
ary reporter. 


"  Sketches 
by  Boz," 
1836. 


Smollett  figured  most  largely,  supplemented  in  later 
days  by  a  course  of  hard  reading  at  the  British 
Museum.  At  an  early  age,  Dickens  was  obliged  to 
earn  his  bread,  and  became  successively  a  solicitor' t 
clerk  and  a  reporter  for  the  press  ;  he  had  even  at 
one  time  some  thoughts  of  the  stage,  for  which  he 
displayed  throughout  his  life  a  remarkable  aptitude. 
He  was  just  of  age  when  one  evening,  with  fear  and 
trembling,  he  dropped  into  the  letter-box  of  the 
"Monthly  Magazine"  his  first  story,  a  sketch  after- 
wards entitled  ' '  Mr.  Minns  and  his  Cousin, "  which 
was  reprinted  in  the  "Sketches  by  Boz."  For  timid 
young  writers,  doubtful  of  their  own  powers,  there 
should  be  much  comfort  in  the  study  of  this  first  at- 
tempt ;  it  is  encouraging  to  think  that  the  perpetrator 
of  so  atrocious  a  piece  of  balderdash  lived  to  create 
in  later  days  such  characters  as  Dick  Swiveller  and 
Mr.  Micawber,  Sam  Weller  and  Mrs.  Gamp.  The 
"Monthly  Magazine"  accepted  this  and  other 
sketches,  and,  though  it  could  not  afford  to  pay  for 
them,  gave  the  young  author  his  first  lift  in  life.  He 
obtained  a  post  as  a  parliamentary  reporter  for  the 
"Morning  Chronicle"  in  1834,  and  was  engaged  to 
contribute  sketches  to  the  affiliated  "Evening  Chron- 
icle," then  conducted  by  his  future  father-in-law, 
George  Hogarth.  A  collection  of  these  papers,  under 
the  title  of  ' '  Sketches  by  Boz, " — a  nom  de  plume 
taken  from  the  nickname  of  a  young  brother — was 
published  in  1836  and  attracted  an  attention  which 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


251 


appears  to  us  much  above  their  merits.  The  same 
year  saw  the  commencement  of  a  work  which  gave 
Dickens  at  once  an  acknowledged  rank  at  the  head 
of  his  profession.  The  author  of  ' '  Pickwick  "  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  competition  of  the  most 
eminent  writers  of  the  day. 

A  well-known  comic  artist  of  the  day,  Robert 
Seymour,  had  suggested  to  Messrs.  Chapman  &  Hall 
a  series  of  humorous  pictures,  chiefly  of  incom- 
petent sportsmen,  with  letterpress  to  match,  and  the 
task  of  composing  the  latter  was  offered  to  the 
young  author  of  the  "Sketches  by  Boz."  Dickens 
refused  to  accept  this  arrangement,  but  agreed  to 
supply  comic  scenes  at  his  own  discretion,  to  be 
illustrated  by  such  plates  as  would  "arise  naturally 
out  of  the  text."  Seymour  only  lived  to  illustrate 
the  first  number  of  the  "Posthumous  Papers  of  the 
Pickwick  Club,"  but  there  are  traces  of  his  original 
plan  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Winkle's  various  misad- 
ventures on  horseback  and  on  the  ice,  with  the 
rooks  and  with  the  partridges.  For  the  subsequent 
illustrations  Hablot  Browne — better  known  as  "Phiz" 
— was  chosen  out  of  a  number  of  candidates,  Thack- 
eray being  among  the  rejected.  The  first  num- 
bers of  the  book — which  was  issued  in  twenty 
monthly  parts — at  once  took  the  public  fancy,  laying 
the  foundation  of  a  popularity  which  has  never 
decreased.  There  is  perhaps  no  book  more  widely 
known  in  the  English  language,  nor,  strangely 


Robert 
Seymour. 


'Pickwick. 


Hablot 
Browne- 
"Phiz.' 


252 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Intensely  na- 
tional in  its 
character. 


Its  humour. 


Its  literary 
construction. 


enough,  many  which  have  been  received  with  such 
favour  on  the  Continent,  though  it  is  intensely 
national  in  character.  It  is,  indeed,  an  almost  perfect 
specimen  of  the  strictly  English  quality  of  fun — using 
English  in  its  very  narrowest  sense  as  applying  only 
to  that  part  of  her  Majesty's  dominions  called  Eng- 
land— which  differs  as  greatly  from  the  humour  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland  as  from  French  wit  or  Amer- 
ican extravagance.  We  could  quote  instances  of 
more  genuinely  humorous  scenes  than  that  of  the 
trial  in  "Pickwick,"  but  we  cannot  think  of  any- 
thing so  irresistibly  funny.  It  is  hardly  high  com- 
edy, but  neither  is  it  merely  farcical  ;  and  it  has  the 
great  qualities  of  being  always  good-humoured  and 
hardly  ever  grotesque. 

Another  secret  of  the  success  of  "Pickwick,"  per- 
haps, is  that  it  is  not  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word,  a  novel.  There  is  no  continuous  story  to 
speak  of,  only  a  collection  of  amusing  scenes  of 
high  average  excellence,  though  of  course  contain- 
ing some  that  are  of  inferior  merit.  Nor  do  we  find 
in  "Pickwick"  any  real  delineation  of  character, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Wellers,  who  are, 
however,  as  little  real  as  they  are  always  amusing. 
In  this  respect,  Dickens  undoubtedly  improved  in 
his  later  works,  though  we  do  not  regard  him  as 
having  reached  at  any  time  any  particular  eminence 
as  a  story-teller.  An  episode  in  a  story  he  could  re- 
count with  spirit  and  power,  sometimes  of  the  most 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


253 


tragic  kind,  as  in  the  career  of  Bill  Sikes  before  and 
after  the  murder  of  Nancy,  in  the  account  of  the 
Gordon  Riots,  and  in  a  lighter  vein  the  Yorkshire 
school  episode  in  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  and  some 
strong  passages  in  the  "Tale  of  Two  Cities."  But  a 
larger  and  more  elaborate  plot,  such  as  was  required 
in  those  of  his  works  which  more  resembled  the 
ordinary  novel  in  form,  was  not  a  task  suited  to  his 
powers.  The  details  become  too  intricate,  the  want 
of  a  proper  sequence  in  the  events  often  shows  itself, 
and  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  un- 
natural tours  deforce,  such  for  instance  as  the  pro- 
rracted  artifice  of  old  Martin  Chuzzlewit  in  playing 
the  part  of  an  imbecile  old  man  to  deceive  Pecksniff, 
— an  expedient  repeated  in  "Our  Mutual  Friend" — 
to  bring  about  the  catastrophe.  Such  difficulties  as 
these,  however,  belong  to  a  later  period  of  Dickens's 
career. 

About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  ' '  Pickwick  " 
Dickens  made  some  attempts  at  dramatic  writing, 
producing  some  slight  trifles,  which  were  acted  with 
tolerable  success ;  but  he  did  not  persevere  in  this 
branch  of  literature,  though  a  great  many  adaptations 
of  his  novels  appeared  on  the  stage.  In  1836  he  be- 
came the  first  editor  of  "Bentley's  Miscellany,"  to 
which  he  contributed  his  second  novel,  "Oliver 
Twist."  This  was  a  story  with  a  purpose,  or  rather 
with  two  purposes  ;  the  first  to  expose  the  working 
of  the  Poor  Laws,  and  the  second  to  give  a  genuine 


Editor  of 
"  Bentley's 
Miscellany,' 
1836. 

"  Oliver 
Twist." 


254 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Nicholas 
Nickleby," 
1838. 


picture  of  the  life  of  the  criminal  classes  as  a  kind  of 
antidote  to  the  flavour  of  romance  with  which  crime 
was  surrounded  in  such  novels  as  Ainsworth's  "Jack 
Sheppard,"  and  Bulwer's  "Paul  Clifford."  In  the 
latter  end  he  succeeded  to  a  certain  extent ;  Fagin, 
the  hideous  schoolmaster  in  crime,  and  the  unre- 
deemably  brutal  Sikes  were  acknowledged  to  be 
genuine  pictures  of  types  that  did  exist  in  actual  life, 
and  they  certainly  represent  crime  in  its  most  unvar- 
nished form.  With  regard  to  the  other  object,  we 
fear  that  though  generations  will  laugh  over  Mr. 
Bumble,  they  are  not  likely  to  think  much  of  the 
purpose  with  which  he  was  put  before  the  world. 
For  the  rest,  while  Bumble,  Fagin,  the  Artful  Dodger, 
and  one  or  two  other  characters  are  as  good  as 
they  can  be,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  inferior  work 
in  ' '  Oliver  Twist ; "  the  pathos  is  mawkish,  as  it 
usually  is  in  Dickens's  works,  and  the  absurdly 
melodramatic  story  of  Oliver's  birth,  with  the 
machinations  of  the  impossible  villian  Monks,  is 
little  worthy  of  the  author,  though  he  has  sinned  re- 
peatedly in  the  same  way,  and  does  not  seem  to 
have  known  better,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  say  so. 
We  can  only  say  in  his  defence  that  it  may  have 
been  inserted  as  a  concession  to  the  prejudices  of 
novel  readers. 

The  remainder  of  his  principal  works,  we  may  be 
allowed  to  name  together,  in  order  to  get  a  compre- 
hensive glance  at  their  merits  and  defects.  "Nicho- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


255 


las  Nickleby  "  was  commenced  in  1838  and  published 
in  monthly  numbers,  as  were  also  "  Martin  Chuz- 
zlewit"  (1843-4),  "Dombey  and  Son"  (1846-48), 
''David  Copper-field"  (1849-50),  and  "Bleak  House" 
(1852-53).  An  exception  to  the  rule  was  "Master 
Humphrey's  Clock," — containing  the  stories  of 
"The  Old  Curiosity  Shop"  and  "Barnaby  Rudge," 
together  with  a  padding  of  many  inferior  scenes  de- 
signed to  represent  the  meetings  of  a  sort  of  club,— 
which  came  out  in  eighty-eight  weekly  numbers  in 
the  years  1840  and  1841.  These  works  are,  of  course, 
of  varying  merit  ;  but  they  present  so  many  features 
of  resemblance  that  it  seems  natural  to  treat  them 
together.  They  are  all  cast  more  in  the  form  of  an 
ordinary  novel  than  "Pickwick,"  or  even  "Oliver 
Twist,"  but  the  deficiencies  of  the  plot  in  every  case 
show,  as  we  have  already  said,  that  Dickens  was 
rather  burdened  by  the  necessity  of  adhering  to  this 
system.  On  the  other  hand  the  individual  charac- 
ters in  these  books  are  often  of  the  very  highest 
excellence,  though  we  must  admit  that  the  best  of 
them  are  not  of  a  kind  that  we  have  often  met  or 
expect  to  meet  in  real  life.  Mr.  Micawber  in  ' '  David 
Copperfield,"  Dick  Swiveller  in  the  "  Old  Curiosity 
Shop,"  are  in  our  opinion  unsurpassed  and  unsurpass- 
able ;  we  should  have  lost  much  if  we  had  not  met, 
in  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  with  Mr.  Squeers  and  the 
Crummies  company.  In  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit," 
though  it  is  as  a  whole  inferior  to  these,  are  several 


"  Martin 
Chuzzle- 
wit," 
1843-44. 
"  Dombey 
and  Son," 
1846-48. 
"  David 
Copper- 
field," 
1849-50. 
"  Bleak 
House," 
1852-53. 
"  Master 
Humphrey's 
Clock." 
"  The  Old 
Curiosity 
Shop." 
"  Barnaby 
Rudge." 


The  indivi- 
dual charac- 
ters in  his 
books. 


256 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  senti- 
ment and 
pathos. 


immortal  figures,  Pecksniff,  Mark  Tapley  and  the 
unrivalled  Mrs.  Gamp,  with  her  mythical  friend 
Mrs.  Harris.  Even  in  the  other  books  quoted  we 
have  a  pleased  recollection  of  Captain  Cuttle  and 
Mr.  Toots,  Inspector  Buckett,  Simon  Tappertit  and 
John  Willet.  These  personages  light  up  the  scenes 
with  unfailing  life  and  mirth.  It  is  theiri.  we  seek, 
not  the  excitement  of  story  nor  that  later  fashion  of 
excitement,  the  analysis  of  character,  which  critics  of 
the  present  day  are  so  apt  to  put  in  the  highest  place 
as  the  object  of  fiction.  Dickens  was,  fortunately 
for  us,  no  analyst.  He  neither  anatomises  nor 
explains  the  amusing  and,  it  must  be  allowed,  ex- 
traordinary persons  whom  he  puts  before  us.  We  are 
compelled  even  to  confess  that  they  are  generally 
very  odd  people;  but  they  justify  their  creation 
amply  by  living,  acting,  and  expressing  themselves 
in  the  drollest  and  most  amusing  fashion,  under  our 
very  eyes.  They  live  not  because  their  author  shows 
us  their  machinery,  but  because  we  are  personally 
acquainted  with  themselves. 

We  are  free  to  admit  that  we  have  no  admiration 
at  all  for  Dickens's  sentimental  or  pathetic  passages  ; 
we  are  only  moved  to  weariness  by 

"  That  Smike's  unceasing  drivellings  and  those  everlasting  Nells." 

We  feel  no  interest  in  little  Paul  Dombey,  and  the 
maunderings  of  Jo  leave  our  withers  un wrung.  And 
nothing  can  be  more  surprising  than  to  see  how  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


257 


purely  conventional  survives  in  the  midst  of  the 
wonderful  new  life  which  Dickens  poured  into  the 
forms  of  fiction.  Such  totally  unreal  personages  as 
Ralph  Nickleby,  Sir  Mulberry  Hawks,  Steerforth, 
Quilp,  Mr.  Dombey,  Sir  Leicester  Dedlock,  etc. ,  vari- 
ous as  are  their  other  attributes,  all  agree  in  this  point ; 
they  may  perhaps  have  their  counterparts  in  the 
waters  under  the  earth,  but  certainly  in  the  other 
localities  mentioned  in  the  second  commandment, 
their  like  has  not  been  seen. 

It  is  indeed,  however,  almost  exclusively  in  his 
comic  characters  that  the  genius  of  Dickens  is  really 
displayed.  The  few  exceptions  are  chiefly  to  be 
found  in  the  criminal  class  :  Bill  Sikes,  for  instance, 
is  a  villain  to  be  proud  of,  and  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  truth  in  the  repulsive  figure  of  Jonas  Chuzzlewit. 
If  we  add  that  there  is  not  much  to  be  said  for 
Dickens's  heroes  we  must  admit  that  this  is  a  point 
in  which  even  the  greatest  have  often  failed.  Nicholas 
Nickleby,  however  is  a  real  man,  not  to  say  a  brother, 
though  he  fails  considerably  towards  the  end  of  his 
history  when  he  and  we  are  suddenly  introduced 
to  the  walking  lady  who  is  dragged,  neck  and  heels, 
into  the  story  in  order  that  he  may  fall  in  love  with  her. 
Martin  Chuzzlewit,  however,  is  not  without  many  re- 
deeming faults.  The  pure  and  blameless  heroines  such 
as  Agnes  in  "  David Copperfield, ''  when  they  are  not 
utterly  insignificant,  are  still  more  completely  without 
interest.  One  page  of  the  Marchioness  is  worth  all 

17 


His  genius 
displayed  in 
his  comic 
characters. 


The  hero- 
ines. 


2S8 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


M.   Gustave 
Droz. 


"  Christmas 
Books." 


The  "  Chris- 
mas  Carol." 


the  Kates  and  Ruths  put  together.  It  is  an  amiable 
fault  to  paint  virtue  in  the  finest  colours,  but  it  is  unfor- 
tunate when  they  are  mere  streaks  of  pure  white,  such 
as  fatigue  the  eye  to  rest  upon.  In  this  imperfect  world 
we  are  too  apt  to  desire  the  variety  imparted  by  a 
a  few  spots  of — perhaps,  not  black  quite — but  at 
least,  dark  grey.  M.  Gustave  Droz  has  informed  us 
that  the  society  in  paradise  is  largely  composed  of 
excellent  bourgeois,  who  spend  their  hours  of  beatific 
leisure  in  recounting  one  to  the  other,  "for  example 
of  life  and  instruction  of  manners,"  the  circumstances 
preceding  and  accompanying  "  mon  premier  veniel. " 
In  this  heaven  Dickens's  good  people  should  find  a 
congenial  place ;  and  that  is  a  highly  desirable 
consummation  for  all  of  us. 

An  important  part  of  Dickens's  work  consists  of 
his  famous  "Christmas  Books,"  and  one  which  sets  a 
new  and  unhappily  popular  fashion,  much  worked  out 
since  his  time.  From  1841,  when  the  first  of  these, 
the  "  Christmas  Carol, "  appeared,  to  1848,  when  the 
regular  series  closed  with  the  "Haunted  Man," 
these  annuals  were  eagerly  looked  forward  to  and 
devoured  when  they  did  appear  by  an  appreciative 
public.  To  us  they  seem  to  have  been  rather  over- 
estimated, but  we  must  admit  to  having  more  sym- 
pathy with  Mr.  Scrooge's  opinion  of  the  "humbug" 
which  underlies  so  much  of  the  exaggerated  enthu- 
siasm about  Christmas  than  with  his  conversion  to 
the  same.  This  may  be  thought  to  disable  our 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


259 


judgment  on  the  matter ;  yet  we  should  allow  the 
' '  Christmas  Carol "  to  be  a  work  of  genius  in  its 
way.  The  later  ones  seem  to  diminish  in  merit  as 
they  go  on.  The  ' '  Chimes  "  is  not  so  good  as  the 
"  Carol,"  the  "  Cricket  on  the  Hearth  "  is  inferior  to 
the  "Chimes."  The  "Cricket,"  by  the  way,  was 
extremely  successful  on  the  stage,  not  less  than 
four  adaptations  of  it  being  played  in  London  at  the 
same  time.  Stories  of  a  similar  character  from  his 
own  and  other  pens  continued  for  a  number  of  years 
to  be  published  in  the  Christmas  numbers  of 
Dickens's  magazines,  "Household  Words"  and 
"All  the  Year  Round." 

For  the  career  of  Dickens  as  a  journalist  and 
periodical  writer,  we  have  to  go  back  some  years. 
He  had  contributed  from  time  to  time  to  the  news- 
papers, especially  the  "Examiner"  and  the  "Morn- 
ing Chronicle,"  and  when  the  "  Daily  News  "  was 
started  in  1846,  Dickens  was  chosen  to  be  its  first 
editor,  a  rather  hazardous  selection.  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  a  good  editor  ;  no  doubt,  his 
relations  with  his  staff  would  be  delightfully  genial, 
and  his  room  in  the  office  was  a  pleasant  haunt, 
much  frequented  by  his  friends,  but  the  publisher 
admitted  to  one  of  Dickens's  latest  biographers  that 
"he  was  not  sure  that  the  work  did  not  sometimes 
begin  after  the  editor  had  left  !  "  In  a  very  short 
time  he  relinquished  the  editorial  chair,  with  a  sense 
of  delighted  emancipation,  to  his  friend,  John  Foster. 


"  The 

Chimes." 
"  The 
Cricket  on 
the  Hearth.' 


As  a  journal- 
ist and  peri- 
odical writer. 


260 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Household 
Words," 


"  All  the 

Year 

Round." 

"  Hard 
Times." 


"  Tale  of 
Two  Cities." 


"  Great  Ex- 
pectations." 


"  Little  Dor- 
rit." 


Magazine  literature,  which  did  not  make  so  constant 
a  claim  upon  him  seems  to  have  been  more  to  his 
taste,  but  it  was  not  till  1849  that  he  found  an 
opening  congenial  to  him  in  the  little  periodical 
which  he  founded  and  called  by  the  not  very  appro- 
priate name  of  ' '  Household  Words. "  This  periodical 
which  gave  Dickens  a  convenient  watch-tower  from 
which  to  cry  aloud  on  all  subjects  without  the 
necessity  of  sparing,  was  continued  till  1858,  when 
a  quarrel  arose  between  him  and  his  publishers 
regarding  a  statement  upon  his  personal  affairs 
which  he  had  thought  fit  to  put  into  the  magazine. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  he  transferred  his 
name  and  prestige  to  another  new  periodical  put  forth 
by  a  different  publisher,  under  the  title  of  "All  the 
Year  Round. "  In  the  former  periodical  had  appeared 
the  novel  "Hard  Times,"  which  contains  in  the 
episode  of  Stephen  and  Rachel  one  of  the  best  pieces 
of  serious  writing  which  Dickens  ever  did.  In  "All 
the  Year  Round  "  were  published  the  "Tale  of  Two 
Cities"  (1859),  m  which  some  scenes  of  the  French 
revolution  are  introduced  in  a  lively  and  wonderful 
manner,  and  which  has  had  a  lasting  reputation  ; 
and  "Great  Expectations"  (1860-61),  which  is  chiefly 
remarkable  as  containing  one  exceptionally  strong 
situation  worked  out  with  great  power  and  art. 
Besides  these,  we  have  in  the  later  years  of  Dickens's 
life  his  least  successful  works,  —  "Little  Dorrit," 
Our  Mutual  Friend,"  and  the  unfinished  "  Edwin 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


261 


Drood, "  of  none  of  which  it  is  necessary  to  speak. 
He  died  in  1870.  Besides  his  absolutely  literary 
work,  Dickens  was  much  engaged,  in  the  later  part 
of  his  life,  in  giving  readings  from  his  own  books, 
which  were  conducted  with  equal  ability  and 
profit — a  practice  subsequently  followed  by  other 
eminent  writers,  especially  by  his  great  contem- 
porary, Thackeray.  He  was  especially  fitted  for 
such  work  by  his  remarkable  dramatic  powers, 
often  exhibited  in  theatricals,  by  the  private  company 
started  by  him  and  his  friend  Wilkie  Collins.  "Ah, 
Mr.  Dickens,"  said  a  veteran  bearer  of  banners  at 
one  of  the  theatres  to  him,  "if  it  hadn't  been  for 
them  books,  what  an  actor  you  would  have  made ! " 
We  believe  there  was  no  exaggeration  in  this 
criticism. 

It  is  certainly  not  as  the  greater  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal writers  of  fiction  in  our  period  that  we  have 
given  the  priority  to  Dickens,  nor  even  as  the 
elder.  But  Dickens,  though  a  year  younger  than 
his  brilliant  rival,  Thackeray,  had  won  his  place 
in  the  front  ranks  of  literature  at  a  time  when 
the  latter  was  only  amusing  the  world  by  sketches 
and  short  stories  which  did  not  even  show  any 
distinct  promise  of  the  great  works  that  were  to 
follow.  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  was  born 
at  Calcutta  in  1811,  the  son  of  an  Indian  Civil 
Servant,  and  connected  on  both  sides  of  the  house 
with  various  departments  of  the  Honourable  East 


"  Edwin 
Drood." 


His  drama- 
tic powers. 


William 
Makepeace 
Thackeray. 
1811-63. 


262 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  educa- 
tion. 


Loss  of  his 
fortune. 


Newspaper 
ventures. 


The  "  Na- 
tional Stand- 
ard." 

The  "  Con- 
stitutional." 


India  Company's  government.  Being  sent  home 
early,  according  to  custom,  he  was  educated  at  the 
Charterhouse  and  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  only  remained  a  short  time.  On  leaving 
Cambridge  he  migrated  to  Weimar,  and  thence  to 
Paris,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  art, 
which  he  then  intended  to  take  up  as  a  profession. 
In  1832  he  came  into  his  small  fortune  and  set  to 
work  to  dissipate  it  as  soon  as  possible.  Various 
incidents  in  his  novels  throw  a  light  on  the  manner 
in  which  that  fortune  disappeared ;  some  part  would 
seem  to  have  gone  in  the  Bundelcund  Banking 
Company ;  some  found  its  way  to  the  pockets  of 
Mr.  Deuceace,  but  the  greater  part  was  probably 
expended  in  the  most  easy  and  expeditious  of  all 
ways  of  losing  money,  the  establishment  of  a  news- 
paper. Thackeray  had  already  made  some  small 
efforts,  while  at  Cambridge,  at  the  kind  of  infant 
journalism  which  finds  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Universities,  of  which  some  scraps  have  been 
preserved  to  us.  Nothing,  however,  seems  to  be 
left  to  show  for  such  a  costly  venture  as  the  "Na- 
tional Standard  "or  its  successor,  the  "Constitu- 
tional. "  These  two  journals,  if  they  did  nothing  else, 
rendered  their  proprietor  a  service  of  some  value, 
though  of  that  description  which,  as  Dugald 
Dagetty  says,  "excites  no  benevolence  towards 
the  perpetrator."  Between  them,  they  ruined 
Thackeray — not  to  mention  a  harmless,  necessary 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


263 


step-father,  whose  money  seems  to  have  been  lost 
too  ; — and  obliged  him  to  work  for  his  living.  He 
chose  literature  finally  as  a  profession  in  preference 
to  art,  though  he  still  did  something  in  the  latter 
department  by  illustrating  his  own  books  and  those 
of  others. 

In  1837  Thackeray  got  the  introduction  to 
"Eraser's  Magazine  "  which  was  the  first  step  of  his 
real  career.  Maginn,  the  editor,  recognized  his 
talent  at  once,  and  Thackeray  was  admitted  to  that 
motley  society  of  poets,  philosophers  and  wits,  whom 
Maclise's  picture  represents  as  assembled  at  Eraser's 
house  in  Regent  Street.  The  first  important  contribu- 
tion of  the  newcomer  was  the  "History  of  Samuel  Tit- 
marsh,"  and  the  "  Great  Hogarty  Diamond,  "a  clever 
sketch,  which  does  not,  however,  give  any  particular 
foretaste  of  what  was  to  come.  The  "Yellowplush 
Papers,"  which  followed,  were  more  successful. 
These  were  originally  intended  to  be  merely  occa- 
sional satirical  papers,  but  they  soon  took  the  form  of 
a  story,  relating  the  adventures  of  Jeames  Yellow- 
plush's  master,  the  swindler  Deuceace.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  power  in  this  disagreeable  story ; 
Deuceace  is  represented  from  the  very  first  as  the 
most  absolutely  unredeemable  scoundrel,  who  not 
only  lives  by  cheating  at  cards,  but  robs  his  accom- 
plices in  swindling ;  yet  he  is  confronted  with 
admirable  art  by  the  still  deeper  and  abler  villain, 
his  father.  It  is  a  record  of  vice  unrelieved,  carried 


Adopts 
literature   as 
a  profession 
in  preference 
to  art. 


Introduction 
to  "  Eraser's 
Magazine." 


Maclise's 
picture. 


"  History  of 

Samuel 

Titmarsh." 

"Great 

Hogarty 

Diamond." 

"The 

Yellowplush 

Papers." 


264 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"Punch." 

"  James  de 
k  Pluche." 


on  through  a  succession  of  intrigues  and  counterplots 
with  an  utterly  cynical  disregard  of  any  but  the 
most  sordid  motives,  and  culminating  in  one  of  the 
most  awful  pictures  which  we  have  ever  met  with. 
Deuceace  has  been  out-manceuvred  by  his  father  in 
fortune-hunting,  and  has  married  the  wrong  person 
of  two  ladies  between  whom  a  great  inheritance  is 
known  to  lie,  the  older  rascal  having  secured  the 
real  heiress.  The  winning  pair,  driving  in  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne,  come  upon  the  losers  in  the  game, 
sitting  on  a  bench  in  the  miserable  companionship 
to  which  they  are  doomed,  and  stop  a  moment  to 
enjoy  their  triumph.  In  impotent  rage  and  despair, 
the  starving  wretch  on  the  bench  strikes  the  poor 
woman  in  whom  he  only  sees  a  useless  incumbrance, 
and  the  successful  cheats  in  the  carriage  drive  on 
with  shouts  of  laughter.  It  is  a  hideous  picture,  but 
one  of  immense  power. 

Thackeray  had  at  this  early  period  given  a  certain 
proof  of  the  great  possibilities  within  him,  but  with 
work  of  this  kind  he  was  not  at  all  likely  to  attain 
any  measure  of  popularity.  The  more  comic  experi- 
ences of  Jeames,  which  are  certainly  extremely 
funny,  though  they  never  reached  the  same  level  of 
literary  ability,  were  received  with  greater  favour, 
such  as  was  accorded  to  the  weaker  continuation 
published  some  years  later  in  "Punch,"  which  tells 
of  the  sudden  affluence  of  James  de  la  Pluche. 
Among  other  contributions  to  Fraser  were  the  still 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


265 


more  repulsive  " Story  of  Catherine, "  the  "Confes- 
sions of  George  Fitz-Boodle, " — which  we  would  al- 
most venture  to  call  dull — and  the  first  of  his  greater 
works,  the  "  Luck  of  Barry  Lyndon  ;  a  Romance  of 
the  Last  Century.  By  Fitz-Boodle, ''  to  quote  the  title 
under  which  the  first  number  appeared  in  January, 
1844.  The  story  of  Barry  Lyndon  is  again  the  story 
of  a  rogue,  who  tells  his  own  tale  with  a  cynical 
honesty,  not  seeing  anything  to  be  ashamed  of  in 
the  events  which  he  chronicles.  This  is  a  truly 
masterly  study  ;  the  growth  of  the  character  from  the 
young  Redmond  Barry,  who  is  not  a  badly  disposed 
boy, — through  the  various  corrupting  stages  of  his 
life — as  a  common  soldier  in  the  English  and  Prussian 
services,  at  a  time  when  the  atmosphere  of  a  regiment 
was  far  worse  than  anything  we  can  conceive  in  our 
day — as  a  youthful  impostor  under  circumstances  of 
strong  temptation,  as  a  police  spy,  a  professional 
gambler,  a  wealthy  man  about  town  in  a  very  wild 
age,  and  an  Irish  landlord  with  almost  absolute 
power  and  responsible  to  no  one, — down  to  the  fin- 
ished ruffian  whose  excesses  and  cruelties  are  calmly 
set  down  by  his  own  pen — is  gradually  mapped  out 
before  us  in  a  manner  which  makes  each  change  for 
the  worse  follow  almost  logically  upon  the  preced- 
ing one.  In  collected  editions  of  Thackeray's  works  it 
is  common  to  put  ' '  Esmond, "  and  ' '  Barry  Lyndon, " 
in  the  same  volume, — an  excellent  arrangement  as 
it  seems  to  us,  for  nothing  can  bear  greater  testimony 


"  Story  of 
Catherine." 
"  Confes- 
sions of 
George  Fitz- 
Boodle." 
"  Luck  of 
Barry  Lyn- 
don." 


A  masterly 
study. 


266 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Paris 
Sketch 
Book," 
1840. 
"  Irish 
Sketch 
Book," 
1843. 

"  Journey 
from  Corn- 
lull  to  Grand 
Cairo." 


"  The  White 
Squall." 


to  the  extent  and  versatility  of  Thackeray's  genius 
than  the  fact  that  he  could  relate,  with  so  profound 
an  insight  into  the  character  of  each,  the  lives  of  two 
such  utterly  different  men,  from  their  own  point  of 
view.  It  should  be  added  that  "Barry  Lyndon,"  is 
also  remarkable  as  containing  some  of  the  first  of 
Thackeray's  admirable  historical  sketches,  such  as 
the  story  of  the  French  mutineer,  Blondel,  and  the 
episode  of  the  captivity  and  execution  of  the  faithless 

Princess  of  X . 

Meanwhile  Thackeray  had  found  other  ways  of 
getting  at  the  public  ear,  independently  of  the  min- 
istry of  "Fraser."  In  1840  he  produced  his  first 
sketches  of  travel,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Paris 
Sketch  Book  "  ;  in  1843  followed  the  "  Irish  Sketch 
Book,  "and  in  1844  his  "Journey  from  Cornhill  to 
Grand  Cairo."  We  would  not  give  a  particularly 
high  place  to  these  slight  productions,  though  they 
contain  occasional  pieces  of  great  merit.  The  best 
known  perhaps  is  the  wonderfully  descriptive  poem 
of  the  "  White  Squall,"  with  all  its  life  and  humour 
and  the  exquisitely  tender  touch  at  the  end  : — 

"  I  thought  while  day  was  breaking 
My  little  girls  were  waking 
And  smiling  and  making 

A  prayer  at  home  for  me." 

Thackeray  also  wrote  in  the  "New  Monthly 
Magazine,"  and  in  1843  became  a  member  of  the 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


267 


staff  of  "  Punch,"  which  had  been  started  two  years 
before.  His  connection  with  the  latter  lasted  for  ten 
years,  being  finally  broken  off  in  1854,  as  he  himself 
says,  "on  account  of  Mr.  Punch's  assaults  on  the 
present  Emperor  of  the  French  nation,  whose  anger 
"  Jeames"  thought  it  was  unpatriotic  to  arouse." 
His  most  important  contributions  had  been  the 
' '  Snob  Papers, "  afterwards  republished  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Book  of  Snobs."  It  is  difficult  to  form 
an  accurate  judgment  of  this  singular  production  ; 
taken  merely  as  a  piece  of  humorous  writing  it 
approaches  the  sublime,  but  we  doubt  whether,  on 
the  whole,  it  adds  much  to  Thackeray's  reputation. 
The  philosophy  of  it  seems  faulty,  the  judgments 
are  too  sweeping  ;  we  ourselves  have  rarely,  if  ever, 
met  a  human  being  who  is  not  a  snob  according  to 
one  or  other  of  Thackeray's  definitions,  and  the 
author  himself,  judged  from  his  books  only,  would 
certainly  fall  into  more  than  one  of  his  own  cate- 
gories. Anthony  Trollope,  in  the  biography  of 
Thackeray — alas  !  the  only  and  a  most  unsatisfactory 
one — contributed  to  Mr.  John  Morley's  "English 
Men  of  Letters,"  gives  a  very  fair  estimate  of  the 
unfair  condemnations  into  which  he  was  liable  to  be 
led  in  this  respect.  "  He  saw  something,"  says  the 
biographer,  ' '  that  was  distasteful,  and  a  man  in- 
stantly became  a  snob  in  his  estimation 

The  little    courtesies    of   the  world  and  the    little 
discourtesies  became  snobbish  to  him.  A  man  could 


His  connec" 
tion  with 
"Punch." 


"  Book  of 
Snobs." 


Anthony 
Trollope's 
Biography  pi 
Thackeray  in 
"  English 
Men  of 
Letters." 


268 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Vanity 
Fair,"  1846. 


"  Pendi.ii- 
nis,"  L'-'SO. 
'•  The  New- 
comes," 


not  wear  his  hat,  or  carry  his  umbrella,  or  mount 
his  horse,  without  falling  into  some  error  of  snobbism 
before  his  hypercritical  eyes.  St.  Michael  would 
have  carried  his  armour  amiss,  and  St.  Cecilia  would 
have  been  snobbish  as  she  twanged  her  harp." 

The  first  of  Thackeray's  great  works  appeared  in 
1846.  "Vanity  Fair  "  was  a  very  bold  attempt.  It 
was  published  in  monthly  numbers  after  the  manner 
of  Dickens,  and  it  was  not  completed  in  less  than 
two  years.  The  publishing  world  had  many  doubts 
about  it,  and  it  received  many  rebuffs  before  being  ac- 
cepted by  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans,  the  publishers 
of  "  Punch."  More  than  this,  it  introduced  into  an 
early  number  the  wildly  daring  sketch  of  Sir  Pitt 
Crawley  as  he  appeared  in  his  London  house,  which, 
Trollope  says,  "has  always  been  to  me  a  stretch  of 
audacity  which  I  have  been  unable  to  understand," 
— as  if  formally  challenging  conventionality  and 
criticism  to  take  up  their  weapons  in  time  and  slay 
the  book  in  its  youth  before  it  could  shock  the  world 
yet  more.  But  the  world,  which  is  not  such  a  fool 
as  it  looks,  refused  to  be  shocked,and  took  Thackeray 
to  its  bosom  instead.  Before  "Vanity  Fair,"  was 
nearly  finished,  he  was  already  recognized  on  all 
hands  as  one  of  the  very  first  writers  of  his  day. 
His  popularity  from  that  time  was  established,  and 
the  next  few  years  present  an  unbroken  series  of 
triumphs.  "Pendennis,"  in  monthly  numbers,  ap- 
peared in  1850,  and  the  "  Newcomes  "  in  a  similar 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


269 


form  in  1853-54.  "Esmond,"  which  came  before 
the  public  at  once  as  a  whole,  was  published  between 
them  in  1852.  To  these  may  be  added  "The  Vir- 
ginians," a  sort  of  sequel  to  Esmond,  published  in 
numbers  in  1857-59. 

The  greatest  of  these,  in  its  immense  scope  and 
extraordinary  variety  of  material,  is,  to  our  mind,  the 
first.  "Vanity  Fair"  has  many  claims  to  greatness. 
It  does  not  depend  on  any  special  story, — indeed 
there  is  no  particular  plot  in  the  book, — nor,  in  spite 
of  the  great  prominence  given  to  Becky  Sharp, 
does  it  depend  upon  one  or  two  characters  only. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  satires  on  English 
society  which  has  ever  appeared ;  but  it  is  not  as  a 
satire  alone  that  it  has  gained  its  position  as  the 
greatest  work  of  fiction  of  this  period,  it  is  at  the  same 
time  a  moving  panorama  of  life,  with  a  hundred 
side-scenes  and  episodes  of  interest,  and  with  a  real- 
ity and  fullness  of  humanity  which  have  never  been 
surpassed.  The  little  romances,  if  they  may  be 
called  so,  of  Becky  Sharp  and  Amelia  Sedley,  come 
to  an  end  at  a  very  early  period  of  the  book ;  but 
each  catastrophe,  as  it  is  brought  about,  introduces 
us  to  another  train  of  incidents  and  carries  on 
that  endless  drama  of  social  existence  which  never 
pauses.  The  deaths  of  Sir  Pitt  and  of  Miss  Crawley 
close  up  avenues  of  the  tale  only  to  open  new  ones 
in  a  different  direction.  Even  the  fall  of  Rebecca  is 
not  the  end  of  the  exhibition  which  the  showman 


"  Esmond," 
1852. 


"  TheVirgin- 
ians,"  1857- 
59- 


"  Vanity 
Fair"  the 
greatest  of 
his  works. 


A  remark- 
able satire 
on  English 
society. 


A  moving 
panorama  of 
life. 


270 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


has  to  put  before  us.  The  whole  work  is,  indeed, 
very  like  a  show,  in  which  one  set  of  scenes  attract 
our  attention  after  another,  not  necessarily  connected 
but  yet  falling  into  a  general  harmony,  without 
breaks  or  sharp  transitions  to  turn  the  mind  back 
from  its  natural  course.  The  puppets  succeed  each 
other  so  deftly  that  we  hardly  can  persuade  our- 
selves that  the  scene  has  been  changed.  The  long 
awkward  figure  of  the  Major  tumbling  over  his 
sword  is  still  before  our  eyes,  when  old  Sir  Pitt 
blunders  on  with  his  pipe,  or  the  Wicked  Nobleman 
comes  grinning  and  posturing  to  the  front.  So 
Thackeray  himself  would  have  had  it,  as,  indeed,  he 
says  in  his  preface  ;  and  so  the  work  of  that  unpar- 
alleled showman  does  naturally  present  itself  to  us. 
Still  we  must  admit  that  there  is  one  side  of  the 
picture,  or  one  set  of  scenes  in  the  show  which  is 
rather  lacking  in  interest ;  we  refer,  of  course,  to 
those  which  relate  to  the  history  of  Amelia  Sedley. 
In  all  those  admirable  scenes,  in  which  the  delicious 
fooling  of  the  wooing  of  Jos.  Sedley  is  the  main  inci- 
dent, she  is  a  charming  figure,  and  we  do  not  regret 
her  absurd  devotion  to  that  incarnation  of  the  British 
snob,  George  Osborne.  But  in  the  later  part  of  her 
life,  when  we  are  called  upon  to  weep  over  the  con- 
ventional young  widow  and  to  look  on  at  a  weari- 
some series  of  ignoble  conflicts  with  her  mother 
and  the  petty  details  of  the  Camden  Town  house- 
hold to  which  its  poverty  fails  to  impart  any  interest 


Scenes  lack- 
ing in 
interest 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


27I 


our  sympathy  is  no  longer  aroused.  Much  better  is 
the  figure  of  Dobbin,  but  even  here  we  have  a  sort 
of  conventionality  of  virtuous  character  which  is  not 
worthy  of  the  company  into  which  it  is  introduced. 
An  odd  defence  of  the  weakness  of  the  Dobbin  and 
Amelia  side  of  the  book  has  been  setup,  to  the  effect 
that  it  is  the  faithfulness  of  the  pictures  which  calls 
forth  our  objections.  We  admire  the  knaves  of  the 
story,  because  Thackeray  drew  knaves  as  they  really 
are,  and  such  pictures  are  many-sided  and  attractive  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  he  drew  good  people  as  they  are, 
and  we  find  them  colourless  and  uninteresting,  be- 
cause they  really  are  so.  This  can  only  be  the  view 
of  a  shallow  and  cynical  onlooker,  never  of  a  wise 
man  like  Thackeray,  who  knew  that  there  is  nothing 
upon  earth  so  nearly  approaching  greatness  as  that 
which  is  entirely  good.  What,  if  such  a  theory  hold 
good,  are  we  to  think  of  Dr.  Primrose,  of  Parson 
Adams,  or  of  Thackeray's  own  Colonel  Newcome  ? 
Perhaps  the  real  cause  of  this  error  consists  in  the 
misunderstanding  of  what  is  really  good.  When 
Cromwell  complained  of  the  incapable  officers  who 
were  appointed  solely  out  of  consideration  for  their 
good  birth,  he  spoke  of  such  men  as  being  "gentle- 
men and  nothing  more  ;  "  but  lest  men  should  ask 
what  more  there  could  be,  he  was  careful  to  add  ' '  I 
honour  a  gentleman  that  is  so  indeed."  It  is,  in 
fact,  because  this  negative  side  of  goodness,  which 
is  often  nothing  more  than  the  absence  of  faults,  or, 


His 

"  knaves" 

and  "good 

people." 


Cromwell's 
estimate  of  a 
gentleman. 


272 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Develop- 
ment of 
Thackeray's 
"  good  " 
characters. 


as  we  should  say  loosely,  "goodness  and  nothing 
more,"  is  presented  to  us  alone,  that  we  prefer  the 
spiced  wines  of  the  naughty  Becky  to  the  sugared 
milk-and-water  of  Amelia. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  curious  study  to  observe  the  grad- 
ual development  of  Thackeray's  ' '  good  "  characters. 
At  the  outset  he  appears  to  have  regarded  himself  as 
chiefly  qualified  to  describe  rogues  and  hypocrites  ; 
virtue  was  not  so  much  in  the  line  of  the  biographer 
of  Barry  Lyndon  and  Catherine  Hayes,  the  historian 
of  the  Deuceace  family  and  of  "The  Fatal  Boots." 
But  when  composing  his  great  attack  upon  the  faults 
and  pretences  of  English  society,  he  became  aware 
that  this  was  a  mistaken  place  and  that  the  public,  if 
nothing  more,  demanded  a  picture  in  which  both  sides 
should  appear.  As  Kant  said, — or  rather  as  Heine 
made  him  say, — when  he  altered  his  intention  of 
remodelling  the  cosmic  system  without  the  interposi- 
tion of  any  Deity  whatever,  out  of  compassion  for  the 
blubberings  of  honest  Franz,  trudging  dutifully  be- 
hind his  master  with  the  big  umbrella,  ' '  Ilfaut  un 
Dieu  a  ce pauvre  Franz."  So  Thackeray,  finding  that 
virtuous  characters  were  a  necessity,  chose  at  first 
those  which  came  readiest  to  his  hand,  and  those  were 
not  unnaturally  of  the  conventional  milk-and-water 
type.  They  could  not  help  improving  a  little  in  his 
hands,  but  they  still  bore  the  stamp  of  the  mawkish 
original,  which  seemed  good  enough  for  the  public. 
But  as  he  went  on,  a  better  instinct  arose  within  him ; 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


273 


Elaborate 
and  artistic 
work  on  his 
characters. 


it  became  irksome  to  so  finished  a  workman  to  leave 
one  side  of  his  piece  inferior  to  the  others,  and  in  his 
second  work,  though  Mrs.  Pendennis  is  still  a  some- 
what silly  person  notwithstanding  her  smartness,  and 
Laura  a  hardly  perceptible  figure,  we  have  reached  at 
least  one  strong,  good  character  in  George  Warring- 
ton.  In  the  elaborate  and  artistic  study  which  fol- 
lowed "  Pendennis, "the  whole  scheme  is  changed, 
and  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  occupied  by  a  charac- 
ter, against  which  the  keenest  critic  could  find  nothing 
to  say,  the  really  noble  figure  who  dominates  all  the 
petty  intriguers  surrounding  him  by  the  force  of  his 
pure  and  lofty  nature.  Here  Thackeray  has  set 
himself  to  elaborate  something  resembling  Cromwell's 
"gentleman  indeed,"  the  most  perfect  type  in  art  as 
well  as  in  nature,  the  fitted  centre  of  an  exquisitely 
harmonized  composition.  But  the  result  was  in 
his  own  eyes  not  entirely  satisfactory.  Esmond, 
Thackeray  himself  said, — perhaps  not  without  some 
hope  of  being  contradicted, — was  a  prig  ;  and  there 
is  perhaps  some  truth  in  this  self-criticism.  In  the 
' '  Newcomes, "  he,  therefore,  smoothed  away  what- 
ever stiffness  there  might  be  in  that  lofty  conception, 
purifying — and  perhaps  strengthening  by  a  slight 
admixture  of  weakness — the  nobler  elements.  The 
result  was  the  perfectly  beautiful  figure  of  Thomas 
Newcome,  a  picture  in  which  Thackeray  has  perhaps 
reached  a  higher  level  than  any  novelist  but  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  This  is  the  climax  beyond  which  it 


18 


274 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  cynical 
sketches 
always  con- 
tain a  re- 
deeming 
point 


was  impossible  for  him  to  go.  When  he  took  up  his 
pen  again  we  seem  to  find  some  reflection  of  Esmond 
in  the  less  elaborated  figure  of  General  Lambert  in 
the  "Virginians."  There  is  a  declension  in  the 
power  of  the  picture,  but  the  two  characters  are  at 
heart  much  the  same.  We  observe  something  of  the 
same  process  in  the  faint  echo  of  the  matchless 
Parson  Adams,  which  is  produced  in  the  Dr.  Harrison 
of  Fielding's  last  novel,  "  Amelia." 

When  we  turn  to  the  other  characters  in  Thackeray's 
studies  from  contemporary  life,  we  are  still  less  in- 
clined to  admit  the  charge  of  cynicism  which  is  often 
brought  against  him.  If  he  sets  himself  to  draw  a 
blackguard  he  is  too  true  an  artist  to  omit  the  redeem- 
ing points  that  are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  case. 
Rawdon  Crawley,  a  stupid  and  rather  brutal  sharper, 
is  softened  by  circumstances  into  something  really 
fine;  the  contemptible  hypocrite,  Charles  Honeyman, 
sends  back  the  money  which  he  had  borrowed,  to 
Colonel  Newcome  in  his  distress,  and  the  good  man 
breaks  down  over  that  one  good  episode  in  his  many 
troubles.  Even  Amory,  the  reckless,  shameless 
convict,  has  his  good  points.  And  with  the  doubtful 
characters — what  Bacon  would  call  the  inslantice 
limilis,  those  which  hover  on  the  boundary  of  good 
and  bad — how  admirably  Thackeray  can  turn  their 
good  qualities  towards  us.  Who  does  not  feel  a 
certain  sympathy  with  the  drunken,  degraded  Costi- 
gan,  a  kind  of  admiration  for  the  scheming  money- 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


275 


His  catholic 
sympathy. 


lender,  Sherrick  ?  To  complete  this  side  of  the  pic- 
ture we  may  quote  one  grand  study  of  a  thoughtless 
scamp  redeemed  and  elevated  as  by  "a  sea-change 
into  something  rich  and  strange,"  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  goodness  of  another,  in  the  person  of 
Fred  Bayham.  For  all  those  whom  moralists  would 
sweep  aside  as  worthless  Thackeray  had  the  truly 
catholic  sympathy  of  a  man  who  has  seen  enough  to 
find  good  in  everything. 

But  for  another  class  of  evil  he,  in  common  with 
most  great  artists,  had  no  mercy.  In  the  "New- 
comes  "  he  distinctly  states  his  intention  of  leaving 
the  bad  alone,  poor  fellows,  and  solely  attacking  the 
so-called  good.  The  intense  bitterness  of  the  assault 
upon  Mrs.  Hobson  Newcome  and  her  set,  the 
"worldly-holy,"  as  Laurence  Oliphant  afterwards 
called  them,  is  the  outcome  of  the  feeling  that  these 
are  the  people  who  think  themselves  and  are  thought 
to  be  better  than  others.  The  crusade  against  this 
kind  of  hypocrisy  was  what  Thackeray  really  enjoyed. 
To  satirize  vice  was  not  half  so  attractive  to  him. 
After  the  crash  which  is  brought  about  by  Rawdon 
Crawley's  discovery  of  Becky  and  Lord  Steyne,  we 
seem  to  find  a  certain  sympathy  with  all  the  wretched 
actors  in  the  catastrophe.  There  is  a  little  tribute  to 
the  personal  courage  of  Lord  Steyne ;  there  is  a 
certain  amount  of  pity  for  the  destruction  of  Becky's 
ambitious  dreams.  There  has  been  punishment  for 
wrong  done,  and  that  is  enough  ;  we  must  not  hit  a 


Delighted  in 

satirizing 

hypocrisy. 


276 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Detestation 
of  humbug. 


Octave 
Mirabeau's 
"Le  Cal- 
vafre." 


man  when  he  is  down.  But  what  really  brings  glad- 
ness to  the  heart  of  the  satirist  is  the  fact  that  the 
day  after  the  esdandre  the  Bishop  of  Ealing  should 
have  gone  to  write  down  his  name  in  the  visitor's 
book  at  Gaunt  House. 

It  is  true  that  Thackeray  did  not  entirely  escape 
the  fate  which  seems  to  fall  on  every  satirist,  of  being 
carried  too  far  in  his  onslaught  upon  hypocrisy,  and 
attacking  some  things  which  are  in  no  way  deserv- 
ing of  censure.  His  detestation  of  humbug  was  so 
intense  that  he  seems  to  forget  that  there  is  some  of  it 
which  we  could  scarcely  do  without.  Indeed,  were 
all  descriptions  of  humbug  to  be  swept  off  the  face 
of  the  earth  at  once,  the  very  best  Christians  would 
be  at  each  other's  throats  in  half  an  hour.  He 
blamed  the  writers  of  the  day  for  being  too  mealy- 
mouthed  in  their  descriptions  of  character.  "Since 
the  author  of  Tom  Jones  was  buried,  no  writer  of  fic- 
tion among  us  has  been  permitted  to  depict  to  his 
utmost  power  a  Man."  We  do  not  know  whether 
Thackeray  had  temporarily  forgotten  that  it  pleased 
Fielding  to  put  his  hero,  in  an  episode  of  which 
olonel  Newcome  afterwards  spoke  with  just  sever- 
ity, into  a  position  so  disgraceful,  that  no  sub- 
sequent writer,  to  our  knowledge,  has  ventured  to  re- 
produce it  until  M.  Octave  Mirabeau  produced  a  still 
more  repulsive  picture  in  his  extremely  powerful  and 
intensely  disagreeable  novel,  ' '  Le  Calvaire. "  Thack- 
eray himself  did  not  venture  to  go  so  far  into  the  life 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


277 


of  his  man,  but  only  set  himself  to  lop  off  all  possible 
heroic  attributes.  Indeed  Pendennis,  who  was  to 
be  the  real  Man  without  any  unnatural  decoration,  is 
in  reality  a  very  innocent  person  with  plenty  of 
faults,  no  doubt,  but  these  chiefly  of  the  kind  that 
arise  from  weakness  of  character.  We  are  not,  in- 
deed, sure  that  Thackeray's  philosophy  might  not  be 
reduced  to  a  belief  that  feebleness  is  the  distinguish- 
ing characteristic  of  the  male  of  the  human  species  ; 
but  this  is  not  an  original  view,  especially  when  the 
central  figure  of  a  book,  ordinarily  distinguished  as 
the  hero,  is  chiefly  marked  by  the  peculiar  instability 
which  distinguishes  him  from  the  stronger  figures 
around  him.  If  Pendennis  is  the  natural  man,  to 
what  class  does  George  Warrington  or  Captain 
Strong  belong  ?  or  even  Major  Pendennis,  all  of 
whom  have  at  least  sufficient  strength  and  individ- 
uality to  follow  out  their  own  objects  as  seems  good 
in  their  eyes  ?  Why  should  we  see  anything  more 
characteristic  of  the  real  man  in  the  wavering  figure 
to  which  our  attention  is  chiefly  directed  ? 

However,  Thackeray's  desire  to  represent  an 
unvarnished  picture  of  man  as  he  really  is,  did  not 
prevent  him,  as  we  have  already  seen,  from  giving  to 
his  next  work  a  central  figure  which  does  not  fall 
below  the  heroic  level.  Henry  Esmond,  with  all 
his  virtues,  is  quite  as  real  as  Arthur  Pendennis. 
We  will  not,  however,  add  to  what  we  have  already 
said  about  this  noble  figure,  save  as  the  centre  of  a 


Pendennis 
illustrative 
of  the  real 
Man. 


Henry 
Esmond  and 
Arthur  Pen- 
dennis. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"Esmond1 
a  work  of 
art — almost 
without  a 
flaw. 


The  genuine 
literary  artist 
is  not  com- 
mon. 

Balzac. 

George 
Eliot. 


R.  L.  Stev- 
enson. 


An  illustra- 
tion of  its 
exquisite 
finish. 


very  wonderful  production.  "  Esmond"  is  beyond 
doubt  the  first  of  Thackeray's  novels  as  a  work  of  art. 
There  is  something  in  the  exquisite  finish  and  har- 
mony of  this  which  we  can  only  express  by  the  epithet, 
artistic;  it  is  a  pure  combination  of  perfect  taste  and 
perfect  workmanship,  which  puts  it  in  a  separate  class, 
in  which  many  of  the  greatest  literary  works  have  no 
claim  to  rank.  The  genuine  literary  artist  is  not 
common  ;  Balzac  might  be  cited  as  a  specimen, 
and  George  Eliot,  in  her  early  works,  and  perhaps, 
without  going  quite  so  high,  we  might  say  that  we 
have  at  present  an  artist  of  high  excellence  in  Mr. 
R.  L.  Stevenson.  As  a  composition  "Esmond"  is 
almost  without  a  flaw.  The  details  of  the  execution 
are  all  worked  out  in  the  same  masterly  manner,  and 
the  language  is  perfect.  We  may  take,  as  one  instance 
of  the  exquisite  finish  of  the  minor  points,  the  little 
xplanation  of  Esmond's  prejudice  against  Marl- 
borough.  He  is,  of  course,  a  man  with  views  of  his 
own  concerning  his  contemporaries,  whom  he  judges 
according  to  the  light  in  which  they  present  them- 
selves to  him  ;  and,  as  it  happens,  he  is  the  opponent 
of  the  great  general  and  a  merciless  critic  of  his  con- 
duct. This  is  natural  enough,  but  there  is  a  yet 
"urther  light  of  reality  communicated  by  the  revela- 
tion in  the  foot-note  added  by  Esmond's  daughter, 
which  tells  us  how  Marlborough  had  spoken  of  him 
as  having  "the  hang-dog  look  of  his  rogue  of  a 
father."  Esmond  himself  did  not  know  that  this 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


279 


was  the  origin  of  his  prejudice,  and  that  these  few 
words,  which  he  had  possibly  forgotten,  had  an  in- 
fluence on  his  whole  life.  It  is  like  some  of  the 
stray  touches  in  Shakespeare,  where  Stephano  won- 
ders how  Caliban  came  to  speak  his  language,  or 
Sir  Toby  prays  that  ' '  the  spirit  of  humours  intimate 
reading  aloud"  to  Malvolio, — mere  by-strokes  of  the 
pencil,  which  a  less  perfect  workman  would  have 
utterly  neglected,  but  which  have  a  wonderful  effect 
in  realising  the  scene  in  the  minds  of  both  author 
and  spectator. 

Like  Dickens,  Thackeray  wrote  Christmas  books, 
the  best  known  of  which  is  the  extraordinarily  light 
and  playful  extravaganza  of  the  "Rose  and  the 
Ring,"  a  story  intended  for  children,  but  most  thor- 
oughly enjoyed  by  such  children  as  are  grown  up. 
We  consider  the  "  Rose  and  the  Ring,"  indeed,  as  al- 
most one  of  his  great  works.  It  is  so  absolutely  the 
best  thing  of  its  kind,  full  of  such  genial  humour  and 
such  splendid  absurdity,  carried  on  just  to  the  pro- 
per limit,  and  never  allowed  to  run  over  into  buf- 
foonery. Thackeray  had  a  great  turn  for  this  kind 
of  writing,  and  his  burlesques  are  probably  as  pop- 
ular as  any  of  his  works.  We  do  not  always  admire 
these  last.  "  Rebecca  and  Rowena"  is  very  funny, 
but  we  cannot  get  rid  of  a  regret  that  the  writer  did 
not  choose  some  other  subject  to  make  merry  upon  ; 
while  the  extravagance  of  the  ' '  Legend  of  the  Rhine" 
seems  to  us  rather  wearisome.  Another  branch 


Thackeray's 

Christmas 

Books. 

"  The  Rose 
and  the 
Ring." 


"  Rebecca 

and 

Rowena." 


"  Legend  of 
the    Rhine." 


280 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


His  first 
course  of 
lectures — 
"  English 
Humorists 
of  the 
Eighteenth 
Century." 


"  The    Four 
Georges." 


"  Lovel  the 
Widower.' 

"  Adven- 
tures of 
Philip." 
"  Cornhill 
Magazine.' 


"  Denis 
Duval." 


Other  aims. 


of  Thackeray's  work  was  his  lectures,  in  which  he 
achieved  a  great  success.  His  first  course  of  lectures 
in  1851  was  concerned  with  the  "English  Humor- 
ists of  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  including  Swift, 
Addison,  Steele,  Fielding,  Smollett,  Sterne,  and 
others  ;  a  valuable  series  of  extremely  lively  and 
entertaining  pictures,  mingled  with  acute,  but  often 
partial,  criticism.  The  success  of  these,  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America,  was  so  great  that  another  course 
was  prepared  upon  the  ' '  Four  Georges, "  which  is 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  famous  attack  on  George 
IV.  Among  his  other  minor  works  were  "Lovel 
the  Widower"  and  the  "Adventures  of  Philip, "  both 
of  which  appeared  in  the  "Cornhill  Magazine,"  of 
which  he  was  appointed  the  first  editor  in  1859.  At 
his  death,  in  1863,  he  left  an  unfinished  historical 
story  entitled  "  Denis  Duval." 

Though  literature  was,  no  doubt,  the  only  depart- 
ment in  which  he  was  sure  of  success,  Thackeray 
had  harboured  other  aims  at  different  times.  For 
some  time  he  had  hopes  of  some  post  under  the 
Government  through  the  kind  offices  of  his  friend 
Lord  Clanricarde  ;  among  others  of  a  secretaryship 
of  legation  at  Washington  ;  which  Lord  Clarendon 
was  obliged  to  refuse  him  for  two  reasons.  The  first, 
which  was  that  the  appointment  had  already  been 
made,  was  sufficient  for  Thackeray.  He  also  stood 
for  Parliament  for  the  borough  of  Oxford  in  1857  and 
was  defeated  by  a  small  majority  by  Mr.  (afterwards 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


281 


Lord)  Cardwell,  a  result  on  which  all  parties  were  to 
be  congratulated.  Since  his  death  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Richmond  Ritchie,  of  whose  own  works  we  shall 
have  to  speak  later,  has  given  the  world  a  collection 
of  the  scraps  he  had  left  behind  him,  chiefly  drawings, 
with  the  delightful  burlesque  tale  of  the  "  Orphan  of 
Pimlico ;  "  and  a  charming  series  of  letters  to  his 
friend  Mrs.  Brookfield  has  also  appeared.  We  have 
not  spoken  of  Thackeray's  ballads,  clever  as  they  are, 
for  we  do  not  think  that  they  entitle  him  to  rank  as  a 
poet ;  but  there  is  among  these  letters  one  touching 
piece  of  verse,  which  with  its  forced  gaiety  and 
undertone  of  exquisite  sadness,  seems  to  enchain  the 
memory.  The  printer's  devil  from  "Punch"  is  wait- 
ing outside  the  door  for  copy,  as  the  writer  throws  off 
this  little  call  for  the  sympathy  of  the  kind  friends 
whose  society  is  among  his  greatest  consolations  : 

"A  lonely  man  am  I  through  life  ;   my  business   'tis  to  joke  and 

jeer — 

A  lonely  man  without  a    wife ;    God  took  from   me  a  lady 
dear." 

For  the  private  life  of  Thackeray  was  overshadowed 
by  one  of  the  most  terrible  sorrows  with  which  God 
allows  man  to  be  afflicted. 

We  do  not  find  among  the  older  writers  of  fiction 
in  our  day  anyone  who  comes  up  to  the  level  of  the 
great  novelists  of  whom  we  have  just  been  speaking, 
but  no  period  has  produced  so  many  of  more  than 


Mrs.  Rich- 

mond 

Ritchie. 


"  Orphan 
of  Pim- 
lico." 


His  Ballads. 


Writers  of 
fiction  of  ths 
commence- 
ment of  the 
era. 


282 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Edward 
Lytton   Bul- 
\ver,  1805- 
82. 


'Falkland.' 


'Pelham.' 


average  talent  in  this  department  of  literature.  At 
the  commencement  of  our  period  we  find  among  the 
leading  names,  three  young  writers  of  the  same  age 
whose  work  had  already  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  public  :  Edward  Lytton  Bulwer,  William  Harrison 
Ainsworth,  and  Benjamin  Disraeli.  The  first  and 
greatest  of  these  in  the  field  of  literature  was  born  in 
1805  of  good  family  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  his 
mother  being  an  heiress  of  the  ancient  house  of  Lyt- 
ton of  Knebworth  in  Hertfordshire,  whose  name  the 
novelist  subsequently  assumed  on  succeeding  to  their 
estates.  In  early  youth  he  began  to  write  poetry 
and  even  to  publish  it  from  the  age  of  fifteen  onwards. 
Little,  however,  was  ever  heard  of  his  "Weeds  and 
Wild  Flowers"  or  "O'Neill  the  Rebel,"  the  author 
himself  positively  ignoring  their  existence  in  later 
days.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  attempted  a  novel 
in  the  German  style  called  "Falkland,"  which  was 
immediately  followed  by  the  really  remarkable 
' '  Pelham. "  Few  books  contain  more  absurdity  or 
more  affectation  than  ' '  Pelham  ;  "  yet  it  was  at  once 
evident  that  it  could  only  be  the  production  of  a  writer 
of  more  than  ordinary  talents.  For  so  young  an 
author  it  was  certainly  a  wonderful  effort,  showing 
considerable  originality  of  thought,  some  humour, 
and  a  remarkable  power  of  narrative,  specially 
evinced  in  the  sensational  scenes  of  the  end.  The 
talent  thus  displayed  was  not  allowed  to  slumber, 
but  kept  in  perpetual  activity  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


283 


In  his  early  career,  however,  Bulwer  seemed  to  be 
constantly  changing  his  style  and  venturing  upon 
some  new  branch  of  fiction,  as  if  doubtful  in  which 
he  would  finally  excel  ;  indeed  he  did  not  strike  the 
richest  vein  of  all  till  comparatively  late  in  life. 
"  Pelharn"  was  followed  by  two  novels  of  consider- 
able merit,  "The  Disowned"  and  "Devereux," 
after  which  the  author  made  a  regrettable  excursion 
into  the  realms  of  sentimental  crime  with  "Paul 
Clifford  "and  "  Eugene  Aram. "  We  think,  however, 
that  Bulwer  has  received  more  than  his  fair  share  of 
obloquy  as  one  of  those  who  represented  crime 
in  an  attractive  light.  We  cannot  imagine  Paul 
Clifford  exciting  any  other  sentiment  than  that 
of  weariness,  while  as  for  the  other,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  it  is  still  extremely  doubtful  whether 
Eugene  Aram  was  really  guilty  of  the  murder  for 
which  he  was  executed,  and  that  Bulwer  went 
distinctly  on  the  ground  that  he  was  only  a 
more  or  less  accidental  spectator  of  the  crime. 

A  more  successful  attempt  in  a  fresh  direction 
was  made  in  the  ' '  Last  Days  of  Pompeii, "  a  picture 
of  ancient  times  reconstructed  with  much  skill,  which 
was  followed  by  the  interesting  historical  romance 
of  "  Rienzi."  By  these  works,  in  which — with  many 
objectionable  mannerisms  and  a  superabundance  of 
high-flown  sentiment  impressed  upon  the  reader's 
mind  by  the  lavish  use  of  capital  letters — there  was 
much  to  praise,  Bulwer  had  made  himself  a  consider- 


"  The  Dis- 
owned." 
"  Deve- 
reux." 
"Paul    Clif- 
ford." 
"  Eugene 
Aram." 


"  Last  Days 
of  Pompeii." 


:  Rienzi." 


284 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Editor  of  the 
"New 
Monthly 
Magazine.'' 


"The   Lady 
of  Lyons." 


"Riche- 
lieu." 


"Zanoni." 

"  Last  of  the 
Barons." 

"Harold." 


"  King 
Arthur." 


"The  Cax- 

tons." 


"My 

Novel.' 


able  reputation  in  literature  at  the  commencement 
of  the  reign.  He  had  succeeded  Campbell  in  the 
editorship  of  the  "New  Monthly  Magazine,"  and 
even  planned  a  periodical  of  his  own,  the  "  Monthly 
Chronicle,"  which,  however,  was  not  a  success.  He 
had  also  been  for  some  years  a  not  undistinguished 
member  of  Parliament.  He  now  turned  his  thoughts 
to  dramatic  writing,  in  which  he  had  already  made 
an  unsuccessful  attempt.  The  ' '  Lady  of  Lyons, " 
first  produced  in  1838,  was  received  with  favour  and 
is  still  popular,  and  the  same  may  be  said  for  the 
slightly  less  successful  plays  of  ' '  Richelieu  "  and 
"  Money."  In  the  department  of  fiction,  "Night  and 
Morning  "  at  least  maintained  his  early  reputation  ; 
"Zanoni"  opened  a  new  field  of  research  into  the 
supernatural,  while  the  "  Last  of  the  Barons"  and 
"  Harold  "  showed  that  he  had  lost  none  of  his  power 
as  a  writer  of  historical  fiction.  In  poetry  he  was 
less  successful,  his  epic,  "  King  Arthur,"  being  a 
complete  failure. 

It  was  not,  however,  till  more  than  twenty  years 
after  the  publication  of  ' '  Pelham  "  that  his  greatest 
period  as  a  novelist  began.  "The  Caxtons,"  pub- 
lished anonymously  in  "  Blackwood's  Magazine  "  in 
1848,  came  to  the  public  as  a  revelation  of  a  new 
style  much  simpler  and  more  powerful  than  anything 
he  had  done  before.  This  was  followed  by  "My 
Novel,"  a  work  which  commences  as  a  perfect  idyl 
of  country  life,  but  wanders  off  later  into  complicated 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


intrigues  and  melodramatic  episodes  in  an  unreal 
world  peopled  with  impossible  characters  like  Ran- 
dal Leslie  or  Harley  Lestrange.  As  long  as  we  re- 
main in  the  village  of  Hazledean  with  the  Squire  and 
the  Parson,  Dr.  Riccabocca  and  Lenny  Fairfield,  we 
desire  no  wider  horizon  and  no  better  company,  and 
we  think  it  most  unfortunate  that  the  writer  was  not 
of  the  same  mind.  Something  of  the  same  criticism 
might  be  applied  to  his  next  novel,  "  What  Will  He 
Do  With  It  ?  "  which  commences  charmingly  with  the 
adventures  of  Waife,  but  goes  off  again  into  melo- 
drama interspersed  with  high-flown  sentiment  and 
sown  thickly  with  quotations  from  Horace.  There  is 
much  more  sustained  excellence  in  "The  Caxtons," 
which  practically  retains  its  original  simplicity 
throughout  the  three  volumes.  Austin  and  Roland 
Caxton  are  never  thrust  aside  to  make  play  for  melo- 
dramatic schemers  or  conventional  heroes,  and  the 
atmosphere  in  which  they  live  is  equally  healthy 
from  first  to  last.  With  these  three  novels,  which 
rank  so  very  much  higher  than  any  of  his  other  works, 
the  author's  literary  career  came  more  or  less  to  a 
standstill,  though  he  continued  writing  up  to  his 
death  in  1873.  The  "Strange  Story,"  published  in 
"All  the  Year  Round  "  in  1862 — was  a  continuation 
of  the  train  of  thought  started  in  "  Zanoni,"  which 
had  considerable  merit.  The  same  love  of  the  super- 
natural was  shown  in  his  admirable  short  story  of 
the  "  Haunters  and  the  Haunted,"  which  originally 


"  What  Will 
He  Do  With 
It?" 


' '  A  Strange 
Story." 


"  Haunters 
and  the 
Haunted." 


286 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"The  Com- 
ing Race." 
"  The  Paris- 
ians." 
"  Kenelm 
Chilling- 
ley." 


Raised  to  the 
peerage, 


William 
Harrison 
Ainsworth, 
1805-53. 


"  Sir  John 
Chiverton.' 


"  Rook- 
wood." 


appeared  in  "Blackwood. "  The  novels  of  his  later 
days,  the  "Coming  Race,"  "The  Parisians"  and 
"Kenelm  Chillingley,"  did  little  to  increase  his  re- 
putation. Bulwer  Lytton — as  he  was  called  in  later 
days — devoted  much  attention  to  politics  and  was 
Colonial  Secretary  under  Lord  Derby  in  1858-9.  He 
was  made  a  baronet  in  1838,  and  in  1866  was  raised  to 
the  peerage  by  the  title  of  Baron  Lytton. 

Equally  fertile  in  production,  but  by  no  means 
comparable  to  Bulwer  in  ability,  William  Harrison 
Ainsworth  has  chiefly  gained  notice  as  a  writer  of 
historical  novels.  Born  in  Manchester  in  1805,  he 
was  in  early  life  articled  to  a  solicitor,  but  failed  to 
find  a  congenial  pursuit  in  the  law.  In  1826  he  pub- 
lished his  first  novel  "Sir  John  Chiverton,"  of  which, 
however,  he  appears  not  to  have  been  the  sole 
author.  In  the  same  year  he  married  the  daughter 
of  his  publisher,  John  Ebers,  and  made  a  venture  in 
the  same  line  of  business  as  his  father-in-law,  but 
soon  abandoned  this  and  returned  to  literature.  In 
1834  he  made  his  first  success  with  the  novel  of 
"  Rookwood,"  in  which  the  praises  of  Dick  Turpin, 
the  highwayman,  are  sung  with  an  ardour  worthy  of 
a  better  cause.  It  sprang  at  once  into  a  popularity 
which  was  perhaps  above  its  merits  ;  it  had,  how- 
ever, the  advantage  of  being  condemned  by  mor- 
alists as  tending  to  the  encouragement  of  vice.  We 
are  not  tempted  to  join  in  the  chorus  of  admiration, 
but  will  admit  that  there  is  some  power  in  the  de' 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


287 


scription  of  the  famous  ride  to  York.  A  few  years 
later,  Ainsworth  returned  to  the  safer  path  of  histor- 
ical romance  with  the  somewhat  tedious  novel  of 
"Crichton,"  but  in  1839  again  shocked  the  world 
with  the  history  of  ' '  Jack  Sheppard, "  a  work  much 
inferior  to  "  Rookwood  "  in  literary  merit.  "Jack 
Sheppard "  appeared  in  "  Bentley's  Miscellany,"  to 
the  editorship  of  which  Ainsworth  succeeded  on  the 
retirement  of  Dickens,  retaining  it  till  1841,  when  he 
set  up  a  magazine  under  his  own  name.  On  the 
failure  of  this  enterprise,  to  which  he  contributed 
some  of  his  novels,  he  purchased  the  "New  Monthly 
Magazine,"  which  he  conducted  for  many  years. 
We  have  no  space  to  speak  at  length  of  his  numerous 
historical  novels.  They  are  for  the  most  part  built 
on  the  foundation  of  G.  P.  R.  James,  and,  if  less 
wordy,  are  not  very  much  more  exciting  ;  the  char- 
acters are  usually  too  conscious  of  their  responsibility 
to  history  to  venture  to  throw  much  reality  into  their 
words  or  deeds.  Among  the  most  popular  were  the 
' '  Tower  of  London  "(1840),  "  Old  St.  Paul's  "(1841), 
"Windsor  Castle  "  (1843), the  "  Lancashire  Witches  " 
(1848),  the  "Flitch  of  Bacon  "(1854),  and  "Boscobel" 
(1872).  Ainsworth  continued  to  write  novels  up  to 
the  end  of  his  life,  his  last  publication  being  ' '  Stan- 
ley Brereton,"  which  appeared  in  1882.  He  died  in 
the  following  year. 

The  third  of  the  three  novelists  whom   we  have 
grouped  together  for  chronological  reasons  chiefly, 


"Crichton.11 

"Jack 

Sheppard. " 


"  Tower  of 
London." 
'  Old  St. 
Paul's." 

Windsor 
Castle,"  etc 


z88 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Benjamin 
Disraeli, 
born  1804, 
died  Eavl  of 
Beficonsfield, 


"The 
Dunciad  of 
To-day." 


"  Vivian 
Grey." 

Literary 
fireworks. 


"  Captain 
Popanilla." 
"  Young 
Duke." 
"  Contarini 
Fleming." 

"  Venetb." 
"  Henrietta 
Temple." 


belonged  to  a  very  different  kind.  Benjamin  Disraeli 
was  a  writer  of  his  own  class  alone.  His  literary 
career  was  almost  as  singular  as  was  the  far  more 
important  figure  which  he  made  in  politics.  Borr. 
in  the  end  of  1804,  and,  like  Ainsworth,  receiving 
his  first  training  as  a  solicitor's  clerk,  he  made  his 
first  appearance  in  literature  in  1826  as  the  author  of 
a  satirical  poem  called  the  "Dunciad  of  To-day. " 
This  was  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  curious 
and  startling  novel  of  "Vivian  Grey,"  the  first  of 
those  extraordinary  literary  fireworks  in  which,  as 
also  in  political  pyrotechny,  Disraeli  was  a  born 
adept.  The  public  gasped  and  wondered,  doubtful 
what  manner  of  thing  this  might  be  that  was 
presented  to  them,  and  then  paid  the  necessary 
tribute  of  admiration  to  the  brilliancy  of  an  exhibi- 
tion which  they  found  much  difficulty  in  estimating 
at  its  proper  value.  "Vivian  Grey"  was  quickly 
followed  by  a  number  of  other  novels,  "Captain 
Popanilla," the  "Young Duke,"  "Contarini  Fleming," 
the  extraordinary  gibberish  of  ' '  Alroy, "  and  the  more 
ordinary  and  pleasant  love-tales  of  "  Venetia  "  and 
"Henrietta  Temple."  By  the  commencement  of 
the  reign  Disraeli  had  secured  a  seat  in  Parliament, 
after  veering  round  to  every  point  of  the  political 
compass  as  occasion  served.  He  came  out  as  a 
candidate  under  the  wing  of  O'Connell  at  Wycombe 
in  1832,  and  was  returned  for  Maidstone  in  1837  as 
the  uncompromising  opponent  of  his  early  protector. 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


289 


Disraeli  was,  indeed,  throughout  life  a  man  who 
fought  for  his  own  hand  under  various  banners ;  but 
with  his  political  career  we  have  nothing  to  do, 
except  in  so  far  as  it  influenced  his  writings.  In 
1844  he  published  his  most  successful  novel,  "  Con- 
ingsby,"  a  work  which  we  now  find  somewhat 
fatiguing  to  read  from  its  high-flown  style  and  stilted 
characters,  but  which  gained  a  great  reputation  in 
its  day,  and  is  certainly  not  without  some  signs  of 
literary  genius.  It  served  the  treble  purpose  of 
laying  the  political  views  of  what  was  then  called 
the  "Young  England"  party  before  the  public, 
paying  a  really  fine  tribute  to  the  character  of  the 
great  Jewish  race  to  which  the  author  belonged, 
through  the  fine  but  impossible  person  of  Sidonia, 
and  satirizing  many  living  persons,  whom  it  was 
this  writer's  lamentable  practice  to  introduce  into 
his  novels  under  such  thin  disguises  that  the  public 
could  not  fail  to  penetrate  them.  The  next  year 
saw  the  production  of  the  almost  equally  remarkable 
novel  of  "Sybil,"  which  was  also  much  con- 
cerned with  contemporary  politics  ;  and  three  years 
later  came  "Tancred,"  a  book  chiefly  remarkable 
for  its  powerful  delineation  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  Arabian  race,  and  also  for  the  foreshadowing  of 
the  Eastern  policy  which  Disraeli  lived  to  carry  out 
in  some  measure  many  years  later.  After  ' '  Tancred  " 
came  a  lull,  Disraeli  being  too  much  occupied  with 
his  political  duties — as  he  was  now  recognized  as 

19 


"  Conings- 
by,"  1844. 


The  Young 

England 

Party. 


"Sybil," 
1845. 


"  Tancred," 
1847- 


290 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Lothair, 
1870. 


"  Endy- 

mion," 

1880. 


Samuel 
Warren, 
1807-77. 


"  Diary  of  a 
Late  Physi- 
cian." 


"  Ten  Thou- 
sand a 
Year." 


the  leader  of  the  Conservative  party  in  the  House  of 
ommons — for  writing  of  any  kind.  In  1870  he  came 
again  before  the  literary  world  with  another  of  the 
tartling  productions  which  had  made  a  name  for 
him  in  early  life.  It  was  difficult  to  tell  what 
"  Lothair  "  was  intended  for,  whether  it  might  not 
perhaps  be  a  sort  of  gigantic  joke,  intended  to  see 
how  much  the  British  public  were  prepared  to  take 
in.  "Endymion,"  published  ten  years  later,  was 
more  human  and  natural,  though  still  dealing  with 
fine  company  and  social  splendours  of  the  most 
dazzling  kind.  This  was  the  last  work  of  the  great 
politician,  who  brought  to  an  end  in  1881  such  an 
extraordinary  career  as  has  rarely  been  known  in  the 
history  of  England. 

Among  minor  novelists  at  the  commencement  of 
the  reign  some  special  notice  is  due  to  Samuel  Warren 
(1807-77),  a  lawyer  of  some  eminence,  who  had 
begun  by  studying  medicine,  and  whose  "Diary  of 
a  Late  Physician,"  published  in  "Blackwood's  Mag- 
azine" (1838-40),  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention. 
In  1841  followed  his  principal  novel,  "Ten  Thousand 
a  Year, "  which  shows  considerable  power  of  comic, 
or  rather  grotesque,  picturing,  and  might  take  a  high 
rank  in  fiction  but  for  the  terribly  virtuous  and  high- 
flown  characters  which  were  apparently  the  pride 
of  the  author's  heart.  Aubrey,  his  favourite  hero, 
was  chosen  by  Thackeray  as  an  excellent  example 
of  several  branches  of  snobbishness.  Warren  also 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


291 


wrote  another  novel,  ' '  Now  and  Then, "  and  a  num- 
ber of  legal  books,  and  was  a  frequent  contributor  to 
"Blackwood." 

Another  officer  in  the  army  of  "  Blackwood," 
Captain  Thomas  Hamilton,  younger  brother  of  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  was  best  known  by  his  lively 
novel,  "Cyril  Thornton,"  and  wrote  little  of  im- 
portance in  the  present  reign. 

James  Morier  (1780-1848),  who  was  at  one 
time  the  British  representative  at  the  court  of 
Teheran,  was  best  known  as  the  writer  of  the 
"  Adventures  of  Hajji  Baba  in  Ispahan  "  (1824),  and 
"HajjiBabain  England,"  (1828).  His  contributions  to 
the  literature  of  the  present  reign,  including  "Abel 
Allnutt"  (1839)  and  "The  Mirza"  (1841)  were  less 
successful.  Robert  Bell  (1800-1867),  a  journalist  of 
Irish  extraction,  contributed  two  novels  to  the  lit- 
erature of  the  Victorian  era,  ' '  Hearts  and  Altars  " 
(1852),  and  the  "Ladder  of  Gold"  (1856).  He  was 
also  the  author  of  some  successful  comedies,  con- 
tributed some  good  historical  work  to  Lardner's 
"Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,"  and  edited  a  valuable  edition 
of  the  English  poets,  which  unfortunately  was  never 
finished. 

A  more  striking  figure  is  that  of  Captain  Marryat, 
whose  delightful  books  of  adventure  have  been  the 
treasure  of  many  generations  of  boys,  few  of  whom 
have  renounced  their  allegiance  to  him  even  after  they 
have  begun  to  take  an  interest  in  less  exciting 


"  Now  and 
Then." 


Captain 
Thomas 
Hamilton. 


"  Cyril 
Thornton." 


James 

Morier, 

1780-184 


Baba.' 


"  Abel 

Allnutt." 

"The 

Mirza." 

Robert  Bell, 

1800-67. 


"  Hearts  and 

Altars." 

"  Ladder   of 

Gold." 


Captain 

Marryat, 

1762-1848 


292 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  Of 


Personal 
achieve- 
ments. 


"  Frank 
Mildmay." 


"  Peter 
Simple." 


"  Jacob 
Faithful." 
"  Midship- 
man  Easy. ' 


Florence 
Marryat— 
now  Mrs. 
Francis 
Lean. 


literature.  Frederick  Marryat  was  born  in  1792  and, 
entering  the  navy  at  an  early  age,  achieved  great  dis- 
tinction in  that  service.  Besides  these  achievements 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  duty,  Marryat  showed 
great  personal  courage  in  saving  many  lives  from 
drowning,  for  which  he  received  the  medal  of  the 
Royal  Humane  Society.  He  was  also  the  inventor 
of  the  code  of  signals  used  in  the  merchant  services 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  was  thanked  by 
the  House  of  Commons  for  this  valuable  invention. 
His  chief  services  to  his  country,  however,  have  been 
through  his  literary  works,  which  are  full  of  the 
liveliest  patriotism  and  devotion  to  the  common- 
weal. It  was  not  till  1830  that  he  published  his  first 
novel  of  "  Frank  Mildmay,"  which,  we  must  admit, 
is  not  among  his  best.  Four  years  later  came  his 
most  successful  book,  ' '  Peter  Simple, "  a  combination 
of  exciting  adventure  and  homely  humour,  which 
seems  to  us  unsurpassed  in  its  kind.  To  this  suc- 
ceeded many  others,  generally  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion, among  which  we  should  particularly  select 
"Jacob  Faithful"  and  "  Midshipman  Easy,"  as  the 
two  best  examples  of  his  peculiar  style.  None  of 
the  subsequent  books,  however,  appears  to  us  to 
come  near  to  "  Peter  Simple. "  He  died  in  1848. 
His  daughter,  Miss  Florence  Marryat,  has  also 
gained  herself  a  certain  place  among  English 
novelists. 

As  Captain  Marryat  is  the  chronicler  par  excellence 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


293 


of  naval  exploits,  we  must  mention  in  connection 
with  him  some  of  those  writers  of  fiction  who 
devoted  themselves  to  military  adventure.  A  con- 
temporary of  Marry at's  to  whom  this  latter  subject 
naturally  offered  itself  was  the  Rev.  George  Robert 
Gleig  (1796-1888),  chaplain-general  to  the  forces, 
who  in  his  youth  had  served  in  the  army  throughout 
the  Peninsular  and  Waterloo  campaigns,  and  was 
only  ordained  after  his  retirement  from  the  service  in 
1820.  His  principal  work,  the  "Subaltern,"  was 
published  in  "Blackwood"  in  1826,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  other  stories,  "Allan  Breck,"  the  "Chron- 
icles of  Waltham,"  the  "Only  Daughter,"  the 
"Light  Dragoon,"  and  many  valuable  works  on 
military  history.  Another  writer  who  may  more 
properly  be  compared  with  Marryat,  though  belong- 
ing to  a  later  generation,  was  Charles  Lever,  so  well 
known  for  his  spirited  tales  and  romances  of  Irish 
life.  Born  in  1806,  and  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  Lever  took  up  medicine  as  a  profession,  do- 
ing specially  good  service  during  the  outbreak  of 
cholera  in  Ireland  in  1832.  He  afterwards  practised 
in  Brussels,  where  perhaps  the  vicinity  of  Waterloo 
exercised  some  influence  over  his  mind ;  at  least  the 
idea  of  his  military  novels  seems  first  to  have  oc- 
curred to  him  here.  The  first  of  these  was  the  "  Con- 
fessions of  Harry  Lorrequer,"  which  is  little  more 
than  a  collection  of  extremely  amusing  stories. 
"Charles  O'Malley,"  published  a  year  or  two  later, 


Rev.  George 
Robert  Gleig 
1796-1888. 


"The  Sub- 
altern." 


"  Allan 
Breck." 
"  Chronicles 
of  Waltham" 
Only 
gh 
"  Light 
Dragoon." 


"  Only 
Daughter. 


Charles 
Lever,  1806- 
72. 


"  Confes- 
sions of 
Harry     Lor 
requer." 

"  Charles 
O'Malley." 


294 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


•'  Jack 
Hinton." 
"Tom 
Burke." 


H.  M.  con- 
sul at  Trieste 


"  Cornelius 
O'Dowd  " 
papers. 


Gerald 
Griffin, 
1803-40. 


was  more  deliberately  planned  and  more  elaborately 
carried  out,  a  fascinating  mixture  of  adventure  and 
fun,  which  established  the  claims  of  Lever  to  a  place 
in  literature  on  a  firm  footing.  Among  his  subsequent 
books,  those  which  treat  of  military  life  or  of  Irish 
peculiarities  are  the  most  successful,  among  which 
we  may  perhaps  select  "Jack  Hinton"  and  "Tom 
Burke, "  the  story  of  an  Irish  soldier  in  the  service  of 
Napoleon.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  Lever  spent 
chiefly  on  the  continent  as  a  consul  at  Spezia,  Trieste, 
etc. ,  and  his  later  works  were  more  elaborate,  full  of 
diplomacy  and  intrigue,  full,  too,  of  the  speculations 
and  devices  of  that  special  figure,  the  Irishman  abroad, 
but  failing  considerably  in  the  racy  wit  and  fun  of 
his  earlier  works.  His  plots  become  too  intricate, 
and  the  various  threads  of  his  story  so  irretrievably 
mixed  that  ihe  author  himself  often  seemed  to  for- 
get what  his  original  intention  had  been,  and  merely 
sought  the  quickest  way  out  of  the  labyrinth  in  which 
he  had  involved  himself.  The  end  of  his  life  was 
enlivened  by  the  success  of  a  series  of  papers  on 
things  in  general  and  continental  politics  in  par- 
ticular, which  he  contributed  to  Blackwood,  under 
nom  de  plume  of  Cornelius  O'Dowd.  Lever  died  in 
1872. 

As  an  exponent  of  Irish  humour,  Lever  naturally 
recalls  to  us  the  many  talented  writers  of  the  same 
nationality  who  were  prominent  about  the  beginning 
of  our  period.  Gerald  Griffin  (1803-1840),  the  author 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


295 


of  "  The  Collegians,"  had  practically  ceased  writing 
by  the  commencement  of  the  reign  and  retired  into 
a  monastery  in  1838.  The  Banim  brothers,  joint 
authors  of  the  well-known  "  O'Hara  Tales,"  who 
were  both  older  than  Griffin,  lived  to  collaborate  in 
one  more  work,  "Father  O'Connell,"  published  in 
1840,  which  was  perhaps  one  of  their  best  produc- 
tions. John  Banim,  the  younger  brother,  was 
already  attacked  by  the  disease  to  which  he  suc- 
cumbed two  years  later,  and  his  part  in  the  last 
work  was  probably  small.  Michael,  however,  con- 
tinued to  write,  though  his  time  was  greatly  taken 
up  by  the  duties  of  a  small  post  granted  to  him  by 
the  Government.  His  last  novel,  the  "Town  of  the 
Cascades,"  published  in  1864,  was  not  unworthy  of 
his  best  days.  Michael  Banim  died  in  1873.  Wil- 
liam Hamilton  Maxwell  (1794-1850),  an  Irish  clergy- 
man with  a  living  in  Connaught,  is  also  included  in 
our  period,  though  his  best-known  work,  the  ' '  Stories 
of  Waterloo,"  is  of  earlier  date.  A  more  enduring 
reputation  was  earned  by  William  Carleton  (1794- 
1869),  whose  charming  "  Traits  and  Stories  of  the 
Irish  Peasantry"  did  perhaps  more  to  acquaint  the 
English  public  with  the  real  nature  and  character- 
istics of  his  people  than  any  of  the  writers  we  have 
already  mentioned.  His  contributions  to  Victorian 
literature  include  "Fardorougha  the  Miser"  (1839), 
the  alternately  humorous  and  melancholy  "  Misfor- 
tunes of  Barney  Branagan  "  (1841),  and  his  most 


"  The     Col- 
legians." 

John  and 
Michael 
Banim. 
"  O'Hara 
Tales." 


"  Father 
O'Connell.' 


The  Town 
of  the  Cas- 
cades." 

William 
Hamilt- 
ton  Maxwell, 
1794-1850. 


"  Stories    of 
Waterloo." 


William 
Carleton, 
1794-1869. 
"  Traits  and 
Stories  of 
the  Irish 
Peasantry." 


Fardorou- 
gha the 
Miser." 

"  Barney 
Branagan." 


296 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"Valentine 

McClut- 

chey.'' 


Samuel 
Lover,  1797- 
1868. 


His  portrait 
of  Paganini. 


"  Legends 
and  Stories.' 


"Rory 
O'More." 


"  Handy 
Andy." 

His  Songs. 


Charles 

Kingsley, 

1819-75. 


elaborate  work,  "Valentine  McClutchy,  the  Irish 
Agent."  Carleton  continued  to  write  busily  up  to 
his  death  in  1869.  Few  of  the  distinctively  Irish 
authors  we  have  mentioned  are  better  known 
than  Samuel  Lover  (1797-1868).  Lover,  who  was 
originally  a  miniature  painter  by  profession, — in 
which  capacity  he  is  remembered  by  his  portrait  of 
Paganini, — did  not  begin  his  literary  career  till 
tolerably  late  in  life,  his  first  production  being  the 
"Legends  and  Stories  illustrative  of  Irish  Character," 
which  was  succeeded  by  other  works  of  a  similar 
kind.  In  1837  appeared  his  first  novel,  "Rory 
O'More, "  a  spiritedstory  of  the  Irish  Rebellion,  and  in 
1842-43  a  series  of  extremely  comic  scenes  in  a  kind 
of  novel  form  published  in  "  Bentley's  Miscellany," 
under  the  title  of  "Handy  Andy."  Lover  also 
wrote  Irish  songs,  set  them  to  music  and  sang  them 
himself  after  the  fashion  of,  though  much  inferior  to 
the  poet  Moore.  According  to  the  spirit  of  the  day, 
he  also  gave  entertainments,  which  he  called 
"Irish  Evenings,"  consisting  of  his  own  sketches 
of  Irish  manners,  stories,  and  songs. 

A  much  more  remarkable  figure,  whose  appearance 
upon  the  field  of  fiction  was  of  somewhat  later  date, 
took  at  once  a  conspicuous  place  among  English 
novelists.  Charles  Kingsley  was  born  in  Devon- 
shire, in  1819,  of  an  ancient  Cheshire  family,  and 
educated  partly  in  private,  by  Derwent  Coleridge, 
and  partly  at  King's  College  School,  from  which 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


297 


he  went  to  Magdalen  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  greatly  distinguished  himself,  both  in  classics 
and  mathematics.  On  leaving  the  University  he 
took  orders  and  was  appointed  to  the  curacy  of 
Eversley,  in  Hampshire,  of  which  he  became 
rector  in  1844.  In  this  country  parish  he  remained 
to  his  death,  receiving  some  preferment  in  the  Church 
as  Canon  of  Chester  (1869)  and  of  Westminster  (1873). 
He  was  also  for  ten  years  Professor  of  Modern  His- 
tory at  Cambridge,  and  held  other  more  or  less 
honorary  appointments  consistent  with  his  position. 
His  first  literary  attempt  had  been  in  the  way  of 
dramatic  poetry,  with  the  "Saint's  Tragedy,"  founded 
upon  the  story  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary.  This 
poem,  which  has  received  a  measure  of  praise  per- 
haps superior  to  its  merits,  was  an  achievement  not 
unfitted  to  the  clerical  career  of  its  author,  and  might 
not  in  itself  have  extended  his  fame  much  beyond 
the  limits  of  ecclesiastical  and  scholarly  circles  ;  but 
events  soon  happened  which  brought  the  writer  more 
clearly  before  the  general  world.  In  the  great  up- 
heavings  of  1848,  when  some  men  thought  that  the 
worst  days  of  the  French  Revolution  were  returning, 
and  others  looked  to  a  brief  convulsion  preceding  the 
general  establishment  of  peace  on  earth  and  good- 
will towards  men,  Kingsley  was  one  of  the  observers 
who  believed  that  so  great  and  general  a  movement 
must  be  productive  of  good  if  it  were  only  directed 
to  a  really  good  object,  and  not  to  some  impossible 


Distinguish- 
ed universitj 
career. 


Rector  of 
Eversley, 


Canon  of 
Chester, 
1869;  of 
Westminster 
1873- 

Professor  of 
Modem  His- 
tory, Cam- 
bridge. 


"The 

Saint's  Tra- 
gedy." 


The  French 
Revolution 
of  1848  and 
the  Chartist 
movement  in 
England. 


298 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Unites  with 
F.  D.  Mau- 
rice in 
schemes  and 
aspirations 
for  the  work- 
ing classes. 


"  Alton 
Locke," 


"Yeast." 


ideal,  the  realization  of  which  would  not  even  be 
desirable  if  it  could  be  attained.  Plunging  with  his 
leader,  Frederick  Denison  Maurice,  into  the  social 
questions  of  the  day,  Kingsley  aimed,  as  did  the 
school  which  he  followed,  at  introducing  a  Chris- 
tian leaven  into  the  half-formed  and  undigested 
schemes  and  aspirations  of  the  working  classes.  His 
sympathy  with  the  wants  which  have  inspired  many 
an  ill-advised  and  ill-directed  movement  brought 
some  measure  of  obloquy  upon  him,  and  he  was  for 
some  time  known  by  the  nickname  of  the  "Chartist 
parson."  What  his  views  and  hopes  really  were  he 
tried  to  lay  before  the  public  in  his  remarkable  novel 
of  "Alton  Locke,"  published  in  1849.  ^n  this  sup- 
posed autobiography  of  a  young,  self-educated  poet, 
a  tailor  by  trade,  Kingsley  endeavoured  with  con- 
siderable power  to  throw  himself  into  the  position  of 
his  hero,  to  realize  the  aims  and  hopes  of  the  man 
who  feels  his  position  to  be  an  unjust  and  unneces- 
sary drag  upon  his  efforts  to  rise,  and  even  the  pre- 
judice and  ignorance  which  affect  his  views  of  the 
society  above  him,  though  circumstances  have  given 
him  a  somewhat  clearer  insight  than  his  fellows.  In 
Alton  Locke  himself,  in  the  queer,  old  misanthrope 
who  is  his  instructor  in  life,  in  the  fiery  Chartist  who 
is  his  chosen  friend,  the  author  not  only  introduced 
some  original  ideas  and  political  doctrine  very  novel 
to  the  circles  of  which  he  himself  was  a  member,  but 
attained  a  high  literary  success.  ' '  Yeast, "  a  slighter 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


299 


attempt  on  much  the  same  lines,  published  shortly 
afterwards,  was  full,  as  its  name  indicates,  of  new 
leaven  which  was  supposed  to  be  working  under 
the  surface  of  society,  and  raised  the  gamekeeper 
Tregartha  into  the  position  previously  occupied 
by  the  hero  of  a  higher  class  ;  but  though  in  many 
ways  powerful  as  a  study  it  was  too  little  real  to 
produce  any  permanent  impression. 

Four  years  later,  in  1853,  Kingsley  attempted  a 
new  departure  with  "Hypatia,"  a  story  treating  of 
the  life  of  ancient  Alexandria.  The  power  with 
which  the  author  managed  to  reproduce  the  scenes 
of  a  past  so  entirely  perished,  is  very  remarkable  in 
this  novel ;  the  more  dramatic  incidents  are  related 
with  great  spirit,  and  some  of  the  characters,  such  as 
that  of  St.  Cyril  himself,  are  brought  very  distinctly 
before  our  eyes.  The  defect  in  this  case,  as  in  a 
lesser  degree  with  "Alton  Locke,"  is  the  extreme 
length  of  the  book,  which  is  chiefly  due  to  the 
lengthened  philosophical  discussions  which  retard 
the  action  and  break  the  continuity  of  the  composi- 
tion. This  is  too  common  a  fault  in  our  own  day, 
but  a  fault  it  remains  for  a  writer  of  fiction.  A  more 
thoroughly  successful  effort  as  a  novel  was  "West- 
ward Ho  !  "  published  in  1855,  a  story  of  adventure 
in  the  Elizabethan  buccaneering  days.  It  is  perhaps 
not  the  noblest  form  of  enterprise  to  make  the  object 
of  hero-worship,  but  the  reader  of  Kingsley's  novel 
is  apt  to  forget  whether  the  exploits  of  Amyas  Leigh 


"  Hypatia," 
'853- 


Westward 
Ho!  "  1855 


300 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"  Two  Years 

Ago,"    1857. 

"  Hereward 

the  Wake." 

"The 

Heroes," 

1856. 

"  The  Water 

Babies," 

1863. 

"  Glaucas," 

1857- 

Henry 

Kingsley, 

1830-76. 


"  Raven- 
shoe."  1861. 


"  Mademoi- 
selle 
Mathilde." 


Editor  of  the 
Edinburgh 
"  Daily 
Review, " 


are  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  principles  of 
abstract  justice.  Among  Kingsley's  other  works 
were  "Two  Years  Ago,  "a  novel  (1857),  "Hereward, 
the  Wake,"  a  historical  tale  (1866),  the  "Heroes" 
(1856),  a  delightful  revival  of  some  legends  of  ancient 
Greece,  the  "Water  Babies,"  a  fairy  tale  (1863),  and 
"Glaucus,"  a  pleasant  essay  in  natural  history, 
published  in  1857.  Charles  Kingsley  died  in  1875. 
His  younger  brother,  Henry,  was  also  a  writer  of 
considerable  power.  Born  in  1830,  so  many  years 
younger  than  Charles  that  he  almost  belonged  to  a 
different  generation,  Henry  made  his  reputation  by 
novels  of  a  different  cast,  in  which  country  life  and 
sport  are  among  the  favourite  themes.  ' '  Ravenshoe, " 
his  most  successful  work,  published  in  1861,  has 
more  of  plot  and  more  studied  delineation  of  charac- 
ter than  is  found  in  the  majority  of  his  books ;  the 
well-known  incident  of  the  rough  and  rather  brutal 
Welter's  hesitation  between  right  and  wrong,  when 
he  is  called  upon  to  do  his  duty  at  the  cost  of  a  for- 
tune to  himself,  shows  a  latent  power  which  might 
have  raised  him  to  a  very  high  place  in  literature. 
Most  of  his  novels,  however,  are  cast  in  a  slighter 
mould.  "Mademoiselle  Mathilde,"  a  story  of  the 
French  Revolution,  may  be  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
best.  Henry  Kingsley  also  contributed  much  to 
periodical  literature,  and  was  for  a  considerable  time 
editor  of  the  Edinburgh  "Daily  Review,"  in  whose 
service  he  went  out  to  the  Franco-German  war  as 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


his  own  war  correspondent.  He  died  at  an  early 
age  in  1876.  Another  writer  whose  novels  are  chiefly 
occupied  with  field  sports  and  adventure — which  is 
the  more  remarkable  that  the  author  himself  was  a 
cripple  all  his  life — was  Francis  Edward  Smedley 
(1818-64).  His  books  of  which  "Frank  Fairlegh," 
"  Lewis  Arundel,"  and  "  Harry  Coverdale"  are  the 
most  popular,  contain  a  combination  of  exciting 
adventure  and  good,  honest  fun,  and  are  written  in 
a  thoroughly  healthy  tone. 

The  period  of  which  we  are  writing  was  not  so 
full  of  writers  of  fiction  as  the  present  time.  It  was 
still  thought  possible  that  artists,  men  of  science, 
lawyers,  doctors,  soldiers,  sailors,  and  men  and 
women  of  leisure  might  preserve  their  natural  posi- 
tion in  society  without  having  written  a  novel.  The 
numbers,  however,  were  even  then  sufficiently  large, 
and  we  cannot  be  expected  to  enter  upon  a  record 
of  all  the  rank  and  file  of  this  noble  army.  Among 
the  better  known  writers  was  Col.  Meadows  Taylor, 
(1808-76),  a  distinguished  Indian  officer,  and  author 
of  some  remarkable  novels  dealing  with  scenes  of 
Indian  life,  past  and  present.  Among  the  most 
successful  were  the  "Confessions  of  a  Thug,"  im- 
parting to  the  public  something  of  his  peculiar  know- 
ledge of  that  wild  sect  which  he  had  done  so  much 
to  exterminate,  "Tara,"  a  historical  tale,  dealing 
with  the  commencement  of  the  Mussulman  and 
Mahratta  wars  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  "Seeta," 


Francis  Ed- 
ward SmH- 
ley"  1818-64 
"  Frank 
Fairlegh." 
"  Lewis 
Arundel.'1 
"  Harry 
Coverdale.'' 


Colonel 

Meadows 

Taylor, 

1808-76. 


"  Conff  s- 
sions  of  a 
Thug." 


'Tara.' 


1  Seeta.' 


302 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


James 

Hannay, 

1827-73. 

Editor  of  the 
Edinburgh 
"  Courant." 


"  Singleton 
Fontenoy." 
"  Eustace 
Conyers." 
"  Satire  and 
Satirists." 


Bethune 
Reach, 
1822-56. 
"  Clement 
Lorimer." 
"  Claret  and 
Olives." 
"  Natural 
History  of 
Bores/' 


Albert 
Smith,  1816- 
90. 


Adventures 
of  Mr  Led- 
bury. 

"  The  Mar- 
chioness 
Brinvil- 
liers." 


a  story  of  the  Mutiny.  Among  the  better  known 
writers  who  hardly  reached  the  front  rank,  we 
may  mention  James  Hannay  (1827-73),  a  naval 
officer  in  early  life  and  afterwards  a  journalist  of 
considerable  eminence,  for  some  years  editor  of  the 
"  Edinburgh  Courant, "  will  chiefly  be  remembered 
by  two  spirited  novels,  of  which  the  incidents  were 
taken  from  naval  life,  "Singleton  Fontenoy"  and 
"Eustace  Conyers."  His  lectures  on  "Satire  and 
Satirists"  and  essays  contributed  to  the  "Quarterly 
Review"  and  afterwards  republished  in  a  volume, 
also  show  much  ability.  A  journalist  of  less  note, 
Angus  Bethune  Reach  (1822-1856),  was  also  the 
author  of  several  novels,  of  which  "Clement  Lori- 
mer "  received  some  praise  ;  of  some  French  sketches 
published  under  the  name  of  "Claret  and  Olives," 
and  a  rather  amusing  "Natural  History  of  Bores," 
which  had  some  success  in  its  day.  Among  other 
novel-writers  we  find  many  names  which  are  better 
known  in  other  connections.  Albert  Smith  (1816- 
1890),  who  achieved  a  kind  of  immortality  for  him- 
self by  his  clever  entertainments,  in  which  depart- 
ments he  perhaps  never  met  his  match,  would  scarcely 
have  been  remembered  as  the  author  of  the  "Ad- 
ventures of  Mr.  Ledbury,"  the  "  Marchioness  of 
Brinvilliers  "  and  other  ephemeral  stories.  Of  Douglas 
Jen-old,  Charles  Shirley  Brooks,  author  of  the  "Silver 
Cord, "  and  other  writers  of  a  similar  class  we  shall 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


3°3 


have  to  speak  in  a  later  chapter,  as  the  first  leaders 
in  the  great  enterprise  of  "  Punch." 

Of  Mrs.  Gore,  though  an  exceedingly  voluminous 
writer  of  fiction,  there  is  not  much  to  say.  She  still 
continued  to  write  during  the  earlier  portion  of  the 
Victorian  period,  but  her  style  and  manner  were  es- 
sentially of  the  past.  The  fashionable  novel,  as  she 
understood  and  executed  it,  was  of  Almacks  and  that 
transition  period  between  the  wild  days  of  the  Re- 
gency and  the  new-born  decorum  of  the  young 
Queen's  purified  court.  The  thing  exists  still,  and  it 
is  very  likely  that  the  older  versions  would  contrast 
favourably  with  that  existing  in  the  present  day  ; 
but  it  is  at  least  so  different  as  to  show  how  much 
more  antiquated  is  an  old  fashion  than  the  oldest 
nature  can  ever  be.  Mrs.  Marsh,  long  known  as 
the  author  of  "Emilia  Wyndham,"  has  something 
of  the  same  kind  of  old-fashioned  air,  but  not  in  the 
same  way.  Hers  was  the  novel  of  sentiment  which 
is  indeed  never  out  of  date,  yet  changes  its  modes 
almost  as  much  as  the  other.  Sweet  and  gentle 
heroines  with  long  ringlets  falling  gracefully  from 
drooping  heads,  in  the  simplicity  of  white  muslin 
and  sandalled  shoes,  young  men  who  were  the 
model  of  every  domestic  virtue,  and  an  elegant  home 
and  hearth,  which  was  sometimes  swept  by  mis- 
fortune, but  always  lighted  up  by  feminine  guileless- 
ness  and  grace,  were  her  subjects.  There  were 
villains,  too,  as  was  necessary,  but  villains  of  the 


Mrs.  Gore. 


Mrs.  Marsh 


3°4 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Rev.  Patrick 
Bronte. 


His  three 
daughters. 


Anne 

Bronte, 

1819-49. 


most  artless  kind,  and  always  delightfully  distinct, 
so  that  the  most  careless  reader  might  make  no 
mistake  on  the  subject.  These  two  ladies  were  the 
last  of  their  respective  kind,  for  the  time.  The 
atmosphere  was  about  to  be  stirred  by  a  new  and 
startling  claimant  of  the  highest  honours  in  fiction, 
of  a  kind  so  new  and  rebellious  to  all  the  ancient 
traditions  as  to  frighten  the  public  for  the  first 
moment  almost  as  much  as  she  charmed  it. 

It  would  be  unnecessary  and  out  of  place  here  to 
enter  into  the  curious  story  of  the  three  daughters  of 
the  country  parson  on  the  Yorkshire  moors,  whose 
little  chronicle  has  been  repeated  over  and  over  again 
until  we  know  it  by  heart,  with  many  attempts  to 
make  the  circumstances  account  for  the  very  excep- 
tional character  of  these  three  remarkable  women  of 
genius.  As  a  matter  of  fact  many  women  of  original 
character  and  individuality  have  been  born  and 
trained  in  a  lonely  country  parish  without  eating  their 
hearts  out,  as  the  Brontes  did  with  cravings  for 
advantages  beyond  their  reach,  or  rebelling  as  they 
did  against  the  bonds  of  poverty  and  solitude.  It 
was  they  who  were  so  greatly  out  of  the  common, 
and  not  their  circumstances.  The  younger  of  the 
three,  Anne  (1819-1849),  need  scarcely  have  been 
mentioned,  except  for  her  relationship  to  the  other 
two,  whose  vehemence  and  strong  impulses  carried 
her  along  with  them  even  into  literature,  but  in  a 
gentler  way.  Without  them  she  might  have  been  a 


Charlotte  Bronte  ("Currer  Bell"). 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


305 


writer  of  gentle  poesies,  perhaps  the  teller  of  a 
domestic  tale ;  but  not  more.  Emily  Bronte,  the 
second  sister  (1818-1848),  a  person  of  so  much  char- 
acter and  force  that  her  personality  .was  almost 
violent,  wrote  one  wild  story,  "Wuthering  Heights," 
full  of  fierce  life  and  tragedy,  and  the  breath  of  moor- 
land winds  and  storms,  and  several  short  poems  of  a 
remarkable  character,  died,  having  fought  out  her 
short  life,  beating  her  wings  like  an  imprisoned 
bird  against  the  bars  of  her  cage. 

Charlotte  Bronte,  the  elder  sister  of  the  three 
(1816-1855),  lived  long  and  attained  a  sudden  and 
extraordinary  fame,  making  a  kind  of  revolution  in 
fiction,  influencing  the  entire  generation,  at  least  of 
female  writers,  after  her.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
of  "Jane  Eyre,"  her  first  novel,  published  in  1847, 
that  it  took  the  world  by  storm.  Published  anony- 
mously, or,  what  is  nearly  the  same  thing,  under  the 
fictitious  name  of  Currer  Bell,  it  was  for  a  short  time 
unnoticed  by  the  critics  ;  but  having  accidentally 
fallen  under  the  notice  of  one  who  had  the  discrimina- 
tion to  perceive  the  unusual  power  of  the  new  author, 
was  suddenly  caught  up  by  the  public,  which  only 
wanted  that  spark  to  set  it  on  flame.  "Jane  Eyre " 
was  professedly  the  story  of  a  little  governess,  an 
orphan  girl,  without  beauty  or  pretension,  educated 
in  a  school  of  genteel  charity,  of  which  the  most  bold 
and  realistic  picture  was  given,  with  that  disregard 
of  all  polite  fiction  and  charitable  interpretation 

20 


Emily 

Bronte, 

1818-48. 


Charlotte 
Bronte — 
"  Currer 
Bell,"— 
1816-55. 


"  Jane 
Eyre." 
Its  great 
success. 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


The  author's 
vivid  indivi- 
duality. 


which  is  familiar  nowadays,  but  which  was  quite 
novel  to  a  more  smooth-spoken  time.  This  girl,  the 
little  rebel  of  Lowood,  grows  into  a  woman  full  of 
quaint  attraction,  and  by  accident  enters  as  strange 
a  household  as  ever  figured  in  fiction,  the  master  of 
which,  Edward  Rochester,  a  man  who  has  exhausted 
all  the  excitements  of  the  world,  finds  something 
piquant  to  replace  them  in  the  struggles  of  this  little 
brilliant,  intelligent,  plain  girl  to  escape  his  love  and 
himself.  Rochester  was  a  new  type  among  the 
heroes  of  fiction,  a  woman's  hero,  yet  altogether  differ- 
ent from  the  faultless,  deferential  and  adoring  paladin 
who  had  previously  occupied  the  chief  place  among 
these  creations.  A  domineering  master,  sometimes 
almost  brutal,  sometimes  indulgent,  but  always  the 
sovereign  and  tyrant  for  whom,  according  to  this 
theory,  the  true  woman  pined,  desiring  to  be  com- 
manded and  taken  possession  of.  He  introduced  a 
complete  revolution  into  that  large  part  of  the  realm 
of  fiction  in  which  the  feminine  imagination  is  su- 
preme. The  vivid  individuality  of  the  new  writer, 
the  conviction  which  she  had  the  power  of  convey- 
ing into  the  reader's  mind  that  the  story  she  was  tell- 
ing was  as  true  in  its  after  course  as  in  those  begin- 
ning chapters,  which  was  evidently  taken  from  the 
life,  produced  a  universal  impression  which  scarcely 
anything  in  the  story  of  recent  literature  has  equalled. 
The  fame  of  George  Eliot  was  greater,  but  it  was, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


3°7 


at  its  commencement,  of  a  less  personal,  keen  and 
individual  kind. 

The  publisher,  who  had  divined  the  genius  of 
Currer  Bell,  to  his  great  credit  and  honour,  invited 
her  to  London,  and  all  the  literary  world  crowded 
to  see  the  little  person,  who  was  exactly  what  she 
had  described  herself — a  plain  young  woman,  much 
embarrassed  by  the  notice  which  she  excited ;  shy 
and  silent,  however,  as  her  Jane  had  not  been.  She 
was,  we  think,  allowed  to  relapse  into  her  natural 
quiet  and  to  return  to  her  moorland  parsonage  after 
this  ineffectual  attempt  to  make  a  literary  lion  of  her. 
But  her  reputation  was  rather  enhanced  than  less- 
ened by  the  failure.  Her  second  book,  "Shirley" 
(1848),  was  less  powerful  than  her  first,  and  much 
more  artificial.  It  showed  perhaps  something  of  the 
strain  of  a  writer  put  on  her  mettle,  and  fully  bent 
on  exceeding,  if  possible,  the  previous  natural  and 
spontaneous  effort.  But  it  was  also  revolutionary  to 
the  highest  degree,  casting  aside  that  discreet  veil  of 
the  heroine  which  almost  all  previous  novelists  had 
respected,  and  representing  the  maiden  on  the  tip- 
toe of  expectation,  no  longer  modestly  awaiting  the 
coming  of  Prince  Charming,  but  craning  her  neck 
out  of  every  window  in  almost  fierce  anticipation, 
and  upbraiding  heaven  and  earth,  which  kept  her 
buried  in  those  solitudes,  out  of  his  way. 

The  third  of  Miss  Bronte's  works,  "  Villette," 
published  1853,  returned  in  a  great  measure  to  the 


"Shirley," 


"Villette," 


3o8 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Miss 

Bronte's 

retirement. 


atmosphere  of  "Jane  Eyre,"  the  scene  being  chiefly 
laid  in  Brussels,  and  in  a  school  there ;  and  the  real 
hero — after  one  or  two  failures — being  found  in  the 
person  of  a  French  master,  the  fiery,  vivacious,  un- 
dignified and  altogether  delightful  M.  Paul  Emman- 
uel, who  plays  upon  the  heroine's  heart  and  nerves 
something  after  the  manner  of  Rochester,  but  who 
is  so  absolutely  real  in  his  fantastic  peculiarities  and 
admirable,  tender,  manly  character,  that  the  pranks  he 
plays  and  the  confusion  he  produces  are  all  forgiven 
him.  Lucy  Snowe,  the  heroine,  the  cool  little 
proper  Englishwoman  with  the  well-concealed  vol- 
cano under  her  primness,  is  by  no  means  so  capti- 
vating as  Jane  Eyre,  but 'every  detail  is  so  astonish- 
ingly true  to  life,  and  the  force  and  vigour  of  the 
romance — occasionally  reaching  to  fever-heat,  and 
all  the  more  startling  from  its  contrast  with  the  cold 
white  Brussels  house,  the  school  atmosphere,  and 
the  chill  exterior  of  Miss  Snowe — so  absorbing,  that 
the  book  made  a  still  greater  impression  than  "Jane 
Eyre,"  and  the  ultimate  fate  of  M.  Paul,  left  uncer- 
tain at  the  conclusion,  was  debated  in  a  hundred 
circles  with  greater  vehemence  than  many  a  national 
problem. 

Miss  Bronte  had  the  great  advantage  with  the 
public  of  ending  there,  and  leaving  her  fame  to  rest 
upon  these  three  books.  She  herself  accepted  the 
fate  involved  in  her  position,  as  if  there  had  been  no 
brilliant  and  wonderful  episode  of  fame  and  fortune, 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


3°9 


married  her  father's  curate  (after  holding  up  his  class 
to  the  laughter  of  the  world),  and  died  shortly  after 
in  the  Yorkshire  wolds  which  she  loved,  yet  hated 
—which  had  been  the  desolate  country  of  her  hot 
and  impetuous  youth,  yet  remained  the  home  of  the 
maturer  years  when  she  might  well  have  chosen  a 
brighter.  No  spot  in  England  has  been  more  de- 
scribed and  over-described  than  the  grim  little  village 
of  Ha  worth,  with  its  little  church  and  parsonage, 
the  home  of  this  extraordinary  family.  The  memoirs 
of  Miss  Bronte',  or  rather  of  the  Bronte's  in  general, 
afterwards  written  by  her  friend  Mrs.  Gaskell,  gave 
the  greatest  prominence  to  this  scene,  and  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  family,  in  a  way  which,  powerful 
and  interesting  as  the  book  was,  made  a  first  begin- 
ning of  that  dreadful  art  of  confidential  revelation 
which  has  gone  to  such  lengths  since  then.  The  faults 
of  other  members  of  the  household,  the  tragedy  of  the 
dissipated  brother,  which  were  such  details  as  hon- 
ourable families  have  been  wont  to  bury  in  their 
own  bosoms  and  keep  religiously  from  the  knowledge 
of  the  world,  were  laid  bare  without  mercy  in  order 
to  account  for  the  peculiarities  of  the  minds,  and 
manner  of  regarding  the  world,  of  the  three  sisters. 
The  Bronte's  were  far  from  unique  in  such  experiences, 
as  all  the  world  knows.  It  was  themselves  who 
were  extraordinary,  not  their  circumstances,  and 
Mrs.  Gaskell  set  an  example  in  this  book  which  has 
added  a  new  terror  to  death  and  a  new  danger  to 


Her 
Marriage. 


Mrs.  Gas- 

kell's 

"  Memoirs 

of   Charlotte 

Bronte." 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


Mrs.  Gas- 
kell,  1810- 
65. 

"  Mary  Bar- 
ton," 1848. 


those  whose  lives  fall  under  that  fierce  light  which 
beats  not  only  upon  thrones,  but  on  many  less 
exalted  regions  in  these  curious  and  all-inquiring 
days. 

Mrs.  Gaskell  herself  (1810-1865)  had  also  taken  a 
high  place  in  fiction,  slightly  previous  to  the  debut 
of  Miss  Bronte.  Her  first  novel,  "Mary  Barton," 
published  1848,  was  an  illustration  of  a  life  with 
which  she  was  thoroughly  acquainted,  the  life  of 
Manchester,  not  only  among  its  aristocracy  of  wealth 
(which  she  treats  somewhat  hardly)  but  among  the 
labouring  population  of  the  factories,  with  all  their 
strongly-marked  characteristics.  The  passionate 
sense  of  shame,  mingled  with  the  still  more  impas- 
sioned parental  love,  which  seeks  and  searches  for 
the  lost  with  the  ardour  of  a  primitive  nature,  even 
while  overwhelmed  by  the  weight  of  disgrace  brought 
upon  it,  is  always  a  noble  and  touching  picture,  and 
Mrs.  Gaskell's  perception  of  the  true  poetry  and 
nobleness  of  this  situation  was  much  more  elevated 
in  fiction  than  in  the  after  portrayal  of  actual  life 
above  referred  to.  She  could  understand,  with  the 
profound  intuition  of  genius,  how  the  door  should 
bs  open  night  and  day  for  Lizzie's  return,  and  the 
parent's  heart  ever  intent  for  the  tottering  footstep  of 
the  wanderer,  although  she  did  not  hesitate  to  betray 
the  secrets  of  poor  Bramwell  Bronte  when  the  story 
was  one  of  her  own  friends  and  class — thus  proving 
how  much  more  true  is  sometimes  the  instinct  of  art 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


311 


than  the  misleading  guidance  of  fact,  and  moral  in- 
dignation. 

' '  Mary  Barton  "  at  once  established  Mrs.  Gaskell's 
reputation,  which  was  confirmed  by  its  successors. 
The  story  of  "  Ruth,"  published  in  1850,  roused 
many  criticisms  and  objections  which  may  seem 
almost  ridiculous  in  this  advanced  day.  It  is  the  old 
story  of  seduction,  in  which  an  innocent  girl  is  ruined 
by  over-trust  in  the  immemorial  villain  of  romance ; 
but  being  taken  up  by  compassionate  strangers  in  a 
place  where  she  is  quite  unknown,  is  introduced  by 
them  as  a  young  widow,  wins  the  respect  of  all 
around,  and  brings  up  her  child  in  an  atmosphere  of 
almost  excessive  honour  and  purity.  This  harmless 
fraud  was  denounced  by  the  critics  with  a  warmth 
which  it  is  difficult  nowadays  to  understand.  Nous 
avons  bien  vu  d'aulres,  and  are  no  longer  liable  to  be 
shocked  by  such  a  very  pardonable  device,  though 
it  entails  trouble  and  sorrow  we  need  not  add,  or  it 
could  scarcely  have  furnished  machinery  enough  for 
a  novel.  Among  Mrs.  Gaskell's  other  works  we  may 
mention  "  Sylvia's  Lovers,"  a  striking  and  spirited 
romance,  and  the  remarkable  little  record  of  village 
life,  "  Cranford,"  with  its  little  feminine  genteel  com- 
munity in  which  a  man  was  a  startling  intruder,  in 
which  the  gentle  benevolence  and  dove-like  ran- 
cours of  the  little  place  are  set  forth  with  admirable 
fidelity  and  tenderness  in  the  subdued  colours  nat- 
ural to  such  a  landscape.  Without  either  the  keen 


"  Ruth," 
1850. 


"  Sylvia's 
Lovers." 


'Cranford.' 


3I2 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  OF 


"Wives  and 
Daughters." 


William 

Howitt, 

(1795-1879.) 

Mary 

Howitt, 

(1799-1888.) 


vivacity  or  quiet  force  of  Miss  Austen,  it  is  yet  a 
book  which  may  be  placed  on  the  same  shelf  with 
hers  ;  and  there  could  be  no  higher  praise.  It  was 
received  with  an  enthusiasm  which  has  suffered  no 
diminution  by  the  course  of  years. 

Mrs.  Gaskell's  last  work,  "Wives  and  Daughters," 
which  she  left  unfinished,  though  very  near  its  com- 
pletion, at  her  death  in  1865,  was  a  work  of  broader 
effects  than  any  of  the  others,  and  was  in  many  re- 
spects an  almost  perfect  example  of  the  best  English 
novel  of  the  time,  a  type  much  followed  and  much 
weakened  since.  It  may  be  said  that  in  those  days 
there  was  less  competition  than  now,  and  fewer 
champions  in  the  field.  Yet  such  competitors  for 
public  favour  as  Mrs.  Gaskell  and  Charlotte  Bronte 
are  few  at  any  time.  They  were  the  first  of  the 
novelists  of  the  new  period  (excepting  the  two  great 
figures  which  were  too  conspicuous  to  be  types  of  a 
lass)  to  break  new  ground,  and  give  character  to 
ihe  beginning  age. 

We  place  here,  in  despair  of  knowing  how  to  clas- 
sify them,  the  pair  of  writers  whose  joint  names 
were  well  known  on  many  a  title-page  in  the  forties 
and  fifties  of  this  century — William  (1795-1879)  and 
Mary  (1799-1888)  Howitt,  the  authors  of  some  novels, 
and  compilers  of  many  books  which  have  disap- 
peared from  the  surface  of  the  earth  altogether, 
though  their  names,  at  least  that  of  Mary  Howitt, 
still  "smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust."  They 


ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE. 


were  both  originally  Quakers,  whence,  perhaps,  the 
invariable  use  of  their  Christian  names,  and  both 
began  with  poetry,  which  sweetened  their  homely 
life  of  traditional  quiet  without  doing  much  in  itself 
for  the  fortunes  of  the  young  pair.  From  this,  how- 
ever, they  gradually  slid  into  literature  with  such  pro- 
ductions as  the  "Book  of  the  Seasons,"  "Rural  Life 
in  England,"  etc.,  full  of  easy  and  pleasant  writing 
without  much  reason  for  it.  Many  of  Mary  Howitt's 
verses,  however,  were  full  of  tender  feeling  and 
secured  a  certain  hold  on  the  youthful  reader  of  the 
time.  They  spent  a  laborious  life  in  book-mak- 
ing, almost  always  working  together  and  taking  up 
many  literary  enterprises.  Among  other  works  Mrs. 
Howitt  translated  the  novels  of  Fredrika  Bremer,  the 
Swedish  novelist,  which  for  their  own  merit  and 
originality,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  the  excellent 
translation,  became  very  popular  in  England.  After 
many  years  of  this  hard-working  life  in  England, 
diversified  with  travels,  each  of  which  had  an  after- 
record  in  a  book,  the  Howitts  finally  settled  in  Italy, 
where  William  Howitt  died  in  1879  and  his  wife,  in 
extreme  old  age,  in  1888. 


"Book  of  the 
Seasons," 
"  Rural  Life 
in  England  " 


A     000  714  080 


•  \  .  ,    . 

m '  .:-•- 


